fl?3 


University  of  California. 


GIFT   OK 


7 


MEMORIAL 


OF 


ZACHARIAH     ALLEN 


1795-1882. 


BY    AMOS    PERRY. 

it 


CAMBRIDGE: 
JOHN     WILSON     AND     SON. 


1883. 


PREFACE. 


r  I  ^HIS  Memorial  is  composed  mainly  of  selected 
tributes  of  respect,  affection,  and  honor 
paid  to  the  memory  of  the  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen, 
LL.D.,  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  March  17,  1882. 
Out  of  scores  of  private  letters  addressed  to  Mr. 
Allen's  family,  —  many  of  them  written  by  emi 
nent  citizens  residing  in  different  parts  of  our 
country  and  in  Great  Britain,  — only  two  are  here 
printed ;  one  of  them  written  by  Edward  Atkin 
son,  Esq.,  and  the  other  by  Professor  William  B. 
Rogers,  who  died  suddenly  while  delivering  an 
address  before  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology,  May  30,  1882.  For  some  interest 
ing  details  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Allen,  the  reader 


4  PREFACE. 

is  referred  to  "  The  Biographical  Cyclopaedia  of 
Representative  Men  of  Rhode  Island,"  and  for 
some  account  of  his  ancestry,  to  the  "  Memoir 
concerning  French  Settlements  in  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,"  by  the  Hon.  Elisha 
R.  Potter. 


A.  P, 


'ROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 

July,  1883. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

MEMOIR 7 

Notices  of  t!)e  press. 

PROVIDENCE  PRESS,  MARCH  18,  1882 43 

EVENING  BULLETIN,  MARCH  18,  1882,  —  HON.  ZACHARIAH 

ALLEN 45 

EVENING   TELEGRAM,   MARCH    18,   1882, —  A   GOOD   MAN 

GONE 46 

PROVIDENCE    JOURNAL,    MARCH    20,    1882,  —  THE    LATE 

ZACHARIAH  ALLEN 46 

PROVIDENCE    PRESS,    MARCH    21,    1882,  —  FUNERAL    OF 

ZACHARIAH  ALLEN 52 

HARTFORD  COURANT,  MARCH  27,   1882 53 

EVENING  TRANSCRIPT,  BOSTON,  MARCH  20,  1882, —  RECENT 

DEATH 54 

BOSTON   DAILY  ADVERTISER,  MARCH  20,  1882,  —  A  USE 
FUL  LIFE 55 

Action  of  i\)c  EUjobe  Kslana  historical 

ADDRESS  OF  PROFESSOR  GAMMELL 59 

MEMORIAL  MINUTE 64 

ADDRESS  OF  EX-GOVERNOR  WILLIAM  W.  HOPPIN   ...  66 

REMARKS  OF  THE  RT.  REV.  THOMAS  M.  CLARK,  D.D.    .  68 
LETTER  OF  THE  REV.  E.  M.  STONE,  LATE  LIBRARIAN  OF 

THE  SOCIETY 72 


6  CONTENTS. 

REMARKS  OF  MR.  AMOS  PERRY 73 

REMARKS  OF  CHARLES  E.  CARPENTER,  ESQ 75 

REMARKS  OF  MR.  JAMES  N.  ARNOLD 76 

REMARKS  OF  J.  ERASTUS  LESTER,  ESQ       77 

REMARKS  OF  JUDGE  STINESS 80 

LETTER  OF  THE  HON.  FRANCIS  BRINLEY 81 

LETTER  OF  GEO.  C.  MASON,  ESQ 82 

Action  of  <£Hl)er  Societies,  etc. 

ACTION  OF  THE  PROVIDENCE  FRANKLIN  SOCIETY    ...  83 
PROVIDENCE  ASSOCIATION  OF  MECHANICS  AND  MANUFAC 
TURERS 90 

PROVIDENCE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 91 

ENGINEERS'  ASSOCIATION 91 

PROVIDENCE  VETERAN  FIREMEN'S  ASSOCIATION  ....  92 

ACTION  OF  THE  OXFORD  HUGUENOT  MEMORIAL  SOCIETY  93 

MASSACHUSETTS  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 94 

LETTER  FROM  EDWARD  ATKINSON,  ESQ 96 

LETTER  FROM  PROFESSOR  WILLIAM  B.  ROGERS  ....  96 
LINES  BY  THE  HON.  CHARLES   THURBER,  OF  BROOKLYN, 

N.Y 98 

LETTER    FROM    REUBEN    A.    GUILD,    LL.D.,    OF    BROWN 

UNIVERSITY 99 

DR.  BEEKMAN'S  LETTER .     .     .     .  100 

DR.  SHEPARD'S  LETTER 101 

LETTER  FROM  EDWARD  ATKINSON,  ESQ 102 

LETTER  OF  BENJAMIN  ABBOT,  LL.D 105 

EVENING  POST,  NEW  YORK,  MARCH  24,  1882      ....  105 

LETTER  FROM  MR.  STEPHEN  ROPER  .  106 


LIST  OF  MR.  ALLEN'S  PUBLICATIONS 107 

LETTERS  AND  TOTEMS  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 109 


MEMOIR. 


Remarkable  Scope  of  a  iScoati  anfc  i£arnest  ILife. 


close  of  a  long  and  eminently  useful 
life  suggests  inquiries  which  may  well  en 
gage  the  attention  of  those  who  are  entering 
upon  the  stage  of  action  as  well  as  of  those 
who  are  passing  from  it.  With  the  view  of 
gratifying  readers  who  desire  to  make  the  most 
of  their  opportunities  and  privileges,  the  writer 
proposes  to  give  a  hasty  outline  of  the  life,  and 
especially  of  the  early  career,  of  the  late  distin 
guished  president  of  the  Rhode  Island  Histor 
ical  Society,  the  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  LL.D., 
who  died  suddenly  Friday  evening,  March  17, 
1882.  The  day  of  his  departure  had  been  de 
voted  to  his  usual  studies  and  pursuits ;  and  he 
appeared  as  bright  and  cheerful  as  most  men 


8  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 

when  beginning  their  career.1  He  was  always 
interested  in  passing  events,  taking  part  in  what 
ever  he  thought  calculated  to  benefit  society. 

His  father,  Zachariah  Allen,2  was  a  man  of 
great  enterprise,  energy,  and  executive  ability ; 
but  Mr.  Allen  was  deprived  of  a  father  and  a 
father's  counsel  while  yet  a  child. 

The  earliest  event  imprinted  on  his  memory 
was  the  pageant  of  General  Washington's  fu 
neral  ;  the  next  was  the  funeral  of  his  own  father, 
which  took  place  in  April,  1801,  when  he  was 
five  years  of  age. 

He  was  thus  left  to  the  care  of  his  mother, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Joseph  Crawford 3  and 
Suzanne  Bernon.  She  was  a  woman  of  remarka 
ble  loveliness  and  intelligence  as  well  as  beauty, 
and  led  him  with  a  gentle  but  firm  hand  through 
trying  scenes.  She  was  to  him  the  perfection 
of  woman, — a  mother,  the  thought  of  whom  never 
failed  to  awaken  sentiments  of  gratitude,  and  to 

1  See    Letter  of    R.    A.    Guild,    LL.D.,    Librarian   of    Brown 
University,  p.  99. 

2  He  was  a  large  shipowner,  extensively  engaged  in  commerce 
with  the  West  Indies  and  other  countries,  and  at  his  death  left  a 
large  estate. 

3  The  Crawfords  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Providence, 
and  owned  a  plantation  that  extended  from  where  Crawford  Street 
Bridge  now  stands  to  Hope  Street. 


MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  9 

call  forth  his  benedictions ;  and  yet  his  most 
vivid  recollections  of  her  face  were  coupled  with 
an  act  of  self-will  and  revolt  on  his  part. 

He  asked  on  one  occasion  some  favor  which  she 
refused  to  grant,  and  while  he  was  trying  to  argue 
the  case  and  bend  her  will  to  his,  he  petulantly 
said :  "  Now  mother,  unless  you  let  me  do  this  I 
shall  go  out  and  let  the  water  from  the  spout  [it 
was  raining]  run  right  down  my  back."  Seeing  his 
mother  remain  firm  he  kept  his  word ;  and,  as  the 
chilling  water  trickled  down  his  back,  turning  his 
eyes  upward  he  caught  a  full  view  of  her,  laughing 
at  him,  as  she  gazed  from  a  window7  above. 

That  look  was  stamped  upon  his  memory. 
The  impression  of  that  countenance  was  clear 
and  distinct  nearly  fourscore  years  later,  when 
Mr.  Allen  related  the  incident,  concluding  the 
narrative  thus :  "  My  mother  laughed  at  my  folly, 
and  I  was  rebuked  and  subdued." 

He  was  furnished  in  his  boyhood  with  a  chest 
of  tools  for  mechanical  purposes,  and  had  the 
range  of  his  mother's  attic  for  the  exercise  of  his 
ingenuity,  as  well  as  for  various  sports  too  often 
sought  by  children  outside  the  parental  roof. 
Once,  when  telling  the  story  of  his  early  days, 
Mr.  Allen  placed  great  stress  on  the  influence 


10  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

of  this  home  arrangement.  The  attic  became  in 
time  a  laboratory,  where  experiments  in  chemistry 
and  philosophy  were  tried.  There  a  library  was 
gathered  and  instruction  gained.  Indeed,  there 
he  formed  the  tastes  and  habits  which  were  ever 
afterwards  a  source  of  satisfaction,  sowing  the  seed, 
and  preparing  for  a  harvest  of  which  only  the  be 
ginning  is  seen  in  the  present  life.  He  traversed 
the  fields  for  geological  and  botanical  specimens, 
acquiring  a  knowledge  that  served  him  in  later 
years.  He  gazed  with  wonder  and  admiration  at 
the  starry  heavens,  learning  the  names  of  the  va 
rious  constellations,  and  at  the  same  time  faith 
fully  pursuing  the  course  of  study  marked  out  by 
his  teachers. 

When  eleven  years  old  he  was  taken  in  a  car 
riage  to  the  famous  academy  at  Exeter,  N.  H., 
then  under  the  direction  of  Benjamin  Abbot,  to 
prepare  for  college.  The  scene  enacted  when  he 
was  left  among  strangers  for  the  first  time  has 
been  described  by  himself.  He  watched  the  car 
riage  till  it  was  out  of  sight ;  then,  as  he  sat  on 
the  doorstep  weeping,  he  made  up  his  mind  that 
if  he  wanted  to  be  happy  himself,  he  must  try  to 
make  those  about  him  happy.  Detached  accounts 
of  his  school  life  have  been  handed  down,  from 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  i  i 

which  we  learn  that  he  was  quiet,  orderly,  and 
studious  in  his  habits,  and  was  much  loved  by  his 
teachers  1  and  schoolmates. 

The  matron,  with  whom  he  boarded  in  Exeter, 
related  in  this  city,  nearly  half  a  century  later, 
anecdotes  showing  the  profound  impression  made 
upon  her  mind  by  the  boy,  whom  she  described  as 
having  fine  features,  clear  blue  eyes,  and  flaxen 
ringlets,  and  as  being  as  good  as  he  was  beautiful. 
He  gained  the  full  advantages  of  his  school,  and 
had  through  life  pleasant  recollections  of  that 
early  period. 

In  1862  he  visited  Exeter,  with  the  Rev. 
Augustus  Woodbury  of  this  city,  to  attend  the 
dedication  of  the  new  building.  Mr.  Woodbury 
concludes  a  letter,  written  in  reply  to  inquiries, 
as  follows :  — 

"  The  old  building  at  Exeter  had  been  de 
stroyed  by  fire,  and  the  expense  of  the  erection 
of  the  new  structure  was  met  by  voluntary  con 
tributions  from  the  Alumni.  Mr.  Allen,  I  think, 
gave  one  hundred  dollars.  He  greatly  enjoyed 
the  occasion,  although,  of  course,  he  did  not  meet 
many  of  his  contemporaries.  He  remained  over 
night,  and  spent  most  of  the  following  day  in 

1  See  Letter  of  Benjamin  Abbot,  p.  105. 


12  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

revisiting  the  scenes  of  his  youthful  studies  and 
sports.  He  often  spoke  of  the  occasion  subse 
quently,  with  especial  interest." 

He  safely  and  happily  passed  the  ordeal  of  a 
boarding-school,  and,  being  fitted  for  college,  was 
admitted  a  member  of  the  freshman  class  of 
Brown  University,  September,  1809,  just  a  year 
after  the  death  of  his  mother,  whose  place  in  the 
family  was  in  some  degree  filled  by  an  elder  sis 
ter.  During  his  collegiate  course,  the  attic  which 
served  so  good  a  purpose  at  an  earlier  period  \vas 
ever  a  delightful  retreat. 

Referring  once  to  his  college  days,  Mr.  Allen 
spoke  thus  :  "  Seats  of  learning  are  not  always 
the  abodes  of  wisdom,  as  I  had  occasion  to  ob 
serve  when  I  wras  in  college.  Youn^  men  enter- 

o  o 

tained  false  and  pernicious  ideas,  one  of  which 
was  that  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  is  favorable 
to  genius  and  learning.  The  poet  Horace  was 
quoted  as  countenancing  libations  to  Bacchus." 
From  the  effects  of  such  ideas  he  was  saved, 
as  he  thought,  by  home  influence.  He  preferred 
quiet  pleasures  to  those  more  commonly  sought 
among  boon  companions,  where  well-filled  de 
canters  were  considered  indispensable.  With  a 
well-balanced  mind  he  faithfully  followed  the 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  13 

course  of  study  marked  out  by  the  college 
authorities.  He  however,  did  not  confine  him 
self  to  the  college  routine,  but  indulged  his 
early-developed  taste  for  mechanics,  chemistry, 
and  natural  philosophy,  and  thus  unconsciously 
prepared  himself  for  what  proved  to  be  his 
special  career.  In  the  Commencement  pro 
gramme  at  his  graduation,  his  name  was  at 
tached  to  twelve  theses  chymice.  He  had  the 
fifth  part  in  the  order  of  exercises,  reciting  an 
essay  on  the  Patronage  of  Literature.  He 
belonged  to  a  class  of  thirty-five  young  men, 
some  of  whom  made  their  mark  at  the  bar,  on 
the  bench,  and  in  the  pulpit ;  among  whom  were 
Joseph  K.  Angell,  Job  Durfee,  Romeo  Elton,  Joel 
Hawes,  Enoch  Pond,  John  Ruggles,  and  Thomas 
Shepard,  all  of  whom  have  passed  to 

"  The  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourn 
No  traveller  returns." 

Mr.  Allen's  college  course  served  but  as  the  be 
ginning  of  an  extended  preparation  for  the  work 
of  life.  The  three  leading  professions,  law,  medi 
cine,  and  theology,  received  his  attention.  The 
latter,  the  science  that  treats  of  the  existence, 
nature,  and  attributes  of  God,  and  his  relations  to 


14  MEMOIR   OF  ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

man, —  not  the  system  of  dogmas  represented  by 
the  schools  and  the  dominies  of  the  day, —  he  re 
garded  as  surpassing  all  other  professions  and 
pursuits  in  interest  and  importance.  His  soul 
was  moved  by  the  sublime  utterances  of  the 
Psalmist  and  the  simple  teachings  of  Christ.  He 
recognized  God  in  his  works  and  in  his  Word,— 
ever  maintaining  a  reverential  spirit,  as  he  looked 
"  through  nature  up  to  nature's  God." 

Mr.  Allen's  appreciation  of  the  medical  profes 
sion  was  shown  by  his  availing  himself  of  the 
privileges  of  the  Medical  School  of  Brown  Univer 
sity,  where  he  attended  the  lectures  and  pursued 
the  studies  prescribed  for  graduates;  and  at  their 
close  he  received  a  certificate  of  proficiency, 
which  is  still  preserved.  At  a  late  meeting  of 
the  Historical  Society  he  stated  that  the  knowl 
edge  thus  gained  proved  of  great  service  through 
his  subsequent  life. 

He  preferred  medicine  as  his  profession,  because 
it  afforded  a  certain  field  of  usefulness  and  inves 
tigation  which  he  desired  to  enter,  —  a  field  where 
his  habit  of  observation,  his  taste  for  science,  and 
his  extraordinary  power  of  analysis  and  generali 
zation  could  be  turned  to  account.  To  be  a 
physician  of  the  highest  order,  preventing  and 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN.  15 

relieving  the  suffering  of  his  fellow-men,  was  his 
ambition.  His  studies  in  Brown  University 
Medical  School  awakened  a  desire  for  a  more 
advanced  course  of  instruction,  under  more  favora 
ble  auspices,  in  the  famous  Medical  School  of 
Edinburgh,  Scotland.  This  project  was  not  ac 
complished,  on  account  of  the  opposition  of  his 
guardian,  who  proposed  a  career  that  did  not  re 
quire  foreign  travel  and  study.  He  yielded,  but 
always  regretted  the  change,  often  remarking  in 
his  later  years :  "  That  was  the  greatest  disappoint 
ment  of  my  life." 

He  entered  a  law  office,  that  of  the  late 
Senator  James  Burrill,  and  was  as  devoted  to 
his  studies  as  if  law  were  to  be  the  field  of  his  life- 
work.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and,  having 
taste  and  ability  for  legal  discussions,  and  the  nice 
discrimination  required  for  successful  practice,  he 
seemed  for  a  considerable  time  thoroughly  wedded 
to  the  legal  profession.  He  was,  indeed,  endowed 
with  genius  not  inferior  to  that  of  some  of  the 
ablest  men  of  the  legal  profession  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  would,  doubtless,  but  for  the  bias 
acquired  in  his  juvenile  laboratory,  have  rivalled 
them  in  their  keen  repartee,  masterly  eloquence, 
varied  learning,  and  flashing  wit ;  which  he  appre- 


1 6  MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN. 

dated,  and,  in  later  years,  portrayed  to  the  delight 
of  his  numerous  friends. 

Mr.  Allen  began  public  service  at  an  early 
period.  In  1813,  immediately  after  his  graduation 
at  college,  he  co-operated  with  patriotic  citizens  in 
preparing  the  town  of  Providence  to  repel,  by 
means  of  hastily  constructed  forts  and  palisades, 
attacks  from  the  British  by  water,  which  were  then 
feared.  Having  been  formally  appointed  Secre 
tary  of  the  Committee  of  Defence,  he  corre 
sponded  with  engineers  and  military  men  in 
regard  to  the  best  means  of  securing  the  ends 

<_>  o 

sought.  He  gave  at  one  time,  before  the  Histor 
ical  Society,  an  oral  account  of  the  labors  of  this 
committee,  no  adequate  record  of  which  is  pre 
served.  Referring  to  his  military  experience  on 
this  occasion,  he  playfully  represented  himself  as 
a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1812.  Conspicuous  re 
mains  of  the  skill  and  labor  of  this  committee  are 
still  visible  on  Fort  Hill,  and  at  several  points  on 
the  west  side  of  Providence  River;  and  an  official 
report  of  the  fortifications  on  Fort  Hill,  addressed 
by  Mr.  Allen  to  the  late  Governor  Fenner,  is  still 
preserved. 

Once,  while  speaking  of  the  stirring  events 
that  occurred  in  the  autumn  of  1813,  he  depicted 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  17 

the  scene  that  he  witnessed  on  the  arrival  in 
Providence  of  the  news  of  Perry's  victory  on 
Lake  Erie.  He  was  on  Market  Square  when 
the  messenger  arrived  on  horseback.  The  news 

o 

spread  like  wildfire.  Guns  were  fired,  drums  and 
fifes  were  brought  forth,  and  the  principal  streets 
were  paraded  and  enlivened  with  music  and 
shouting.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  general 

o  o  o 

illumination  by  means  of  bonfires,  and  various 
contrivances  were  adopted  to  express  the  general 

joy- 
In  1817  Mr.  Allen  was  married  to  Eliza  Har 
riet,  daughter  of  Welcome  Arnold,  Esq.,  who  is 
represented  by  Tristram  Burges  as  "  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  merchants  and  statesmen  of 
his  time."  This  happy  union  continued  till  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Allen  in  1873.  Three  daughters 
survive  to  cherish  and  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  their  parents. 

Not  long  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Allen  made 
a  tour  to  the  West,  noting  incidents  that  oc 
curred,  and  the  condition  of  the  country  through 
which  he  passed. 

It  was  the  year  after  Indiana,  then  regarded 
as  the  terminus  of  civilization,  was  admitted  into 
the  Union.  There  were  few  stage-coaches,  and 


1 8  MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN. 

means  of  communication  and  conveyance  were 
difficult.  He  went  in  his  own  carnage  as  far 
as  Washington,  travelling  thirty  miles  a  day. 
There  he  sent  back,  with  his  carriage,  all  un 
necessary  luggage,  and,  purchasing  saddle-horses, 
saddles,  and  saddle-bags,  adopted  the  usual  con 
veyance  of  travellers  going  West.  The  National 
Road  over  the  mountains  was  incomplete,  and 
was  badly  worn  by  the  passage,  in  the  course 
of  one  year,  of  more  than  twelve  thousand  teams 
of  six  or  eight  horses  each.  Pittsburg  con 
tained  then  but  five  thousand  inhabitants.  As 
there  were  at  that  time  no  steamboats  running 
regularly  on  the  Ohio,  he  adopted  the  usual 
mode  of  descending  that  stream,  in  rectangu 
lar  boxes,  which,  though  called  arks,  strongly  re 
sembled  cattle-pens.  They  were  made  of  rough 
plank,  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  long,  with  flat 
bottoms,  and  the  joints  all  caulked  with  tow. 
Two  families,  composed  of  gentlemen  and  ladies, 
procured  two  arks,  one  of  which  served  for  their 
horses,  and  the  other  for  themselves  and  their 
luggage.  The  scenes  witnessed  during  that  voy 
age  have  been  more  than  once  described  by  Mr. 
Allen  for  the  amusement  of  his  friends.  He 
noted  the  fact  that  he  did  not  see  a  steamboat 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  19 

during  his  sail  down  the  Ohio,  and  that  he  saw 
later  the  first  stage-coach  ever  in  Kentucky,  —  a 
coach  which  was  then  running  between  Lexing 
ton  and  Louisville.  Its  posts,  that  were  made 
to  sustain  the  covered  top,  broken  off  and  stick 
ing  up  like  shattered  masts,  presented  a  truly 
grotesque  appearance,  caused  by  the  unskilful 
driver's  neglect  to  take  account  of  the  height 
of  his  vehicle,  while  passing  under  the  spreading 
branches  of  a  stately  oak. 

This  Western  tour  gave  Mr.  Allen  a  vivid  idea 
of  the  riches  and  grandeur  of  our  country,  and 
stimulated  his  desire  to  become  instrumental  in 
the  development  of  its  varied  resources.  His 
later  European  tours  made  him  acquainted  with 
the  progress  of  science  and  art  in  the  Old  World, 
and  enabled  him  to  exert  an  extended  influence, 
by  means  of  his  publications,  in  diffusing  a  knowl 
edge  of  inventions  and  discoveries  calculated  to 
advance  the  interests  of  this  country.  He  made 
the  acquaintance  of  several  leading  scientific  men 
and  philosophers,  including  Professors  Faraday 
and  Owen,  whose  attentions  he  highly  appreci 
ated.  The  former  showed  him,  in  1852,  the  origi 
nal  simple  apparatus  used  by  Sir  Humphrey  Davy 
in  discovering  the  new  metals  sodium  and  potas- 


20  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 

slum,  and  explained  to  him  some  curious  experi 
ments  in  regard  to  the  action  of  magnetic  forces. 

Mr.  Allen  early  took  part  in  the  deliberations 
of  the  town  council  of  Providence.  In  1824  he 
was  one  of  the  town's  committee  to  receive  and 
entertain  Lafayette  ;  and  the  way  in  which  he 
discharged  this  duty  is  best  learned  from  his 
paper  on  Lafayette,  read  before  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society  in  March,  1861,  and  printed 
shortly  afterwards. 

He  exerted  a  leading  influence  in  the  move 
ment  which  resulted  in  the  geological  survey  of 
the  State,  made  by  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  in 
1839;  and  he  did  his  utmost  in  1875,  through 
a  report  as  State  Commissioner,  to  secure  an 
other  survey,  more  extensive,  accurate,  and  thor 
ough.  Indeed,  very  few  worthy  public  enterprises 
of  his  day  can  be  named  which  did  not  receive 
his  support.  He  noted  passing  events  with  the 
view  of  turning  them  to  the  best  account.  As 
Providence  was  his  native  place  and  his  lifelong 
home,  to  promote  its  growth,  beauty,  and  pros 
perity,  he  was  ever  ready  to  put  forth  his  best 
efforts.  He  saw  it  first  as  a  town  of  seven  thou 
sand  inhabitants,  and  latterly  as  a  city  of  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  thousand.  He  noted  its 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  21 

changes  in  a  philosophical  spirit.  In  a  visit  to 
Prospect  Terrace,  shortly  before  his  death,  he 
pointed  out  to  the  writer  the  spot  where  the 
great  ship  Ganges,  driven  by  the  gale  of  Sep 
tember  23,  1815,  lay  for  years  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Cove  Basin.  His  early  and  his  late  efforts 
to  have  the  Cove  Park  protected  from  corporate 
greed,  as  well  as  from  noisome  vapors,  and  thus 
serve  as  breathing  space,  or,  in  his  chosen  phrase, 
as  "  the  lungs  of  the  city,"  ]  are  readily  recalled. 
He  saw  here,  in  his  mind's  eye,  a  population  of 
more  than  two  hundred  thousand  souls,  for  whom 
breathing-space  should  be  provided  and  made 
pure  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  as  well  as  on 
its  heights  and  in  its  suburbs.  He  rejoiced  in 
the  newly  proposed  park,  on  the  French  Camp 
Ground,  as  an  addition  to,  not  as  a  substitute 
for,  the  broad,  open  area  of  land  and  water  in 
the  heart  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Allen  will  ever  be  remembered  as  a  brave 
and  gallant  man,  who,  courteous  and  gentle  as 
he  habitually  was,  cared  more  for  principles  than 

1  "  Edmund  Burke,  in  his  speech  against  selling  some  of  the 
parks  of  London,  called  them  the  Lungs  of  the  Metropolis. 
That  single  word  decided  the  question  ;  for  it  was  fact,  argument, 
and  illustration,  all  in  one."  —  ORVILLE  DEWEY,  in  Old  World 
and  A~eiv,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 


22  MEMOIR   OF  ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

for  forms  and  ceremonies.  He  was  a  man  of  per 
fect  physical  and  moral  courage,  who  spoke  what 
he  thought,  and  stood  by  his  convictions  of  right. 
He  was  a  law-abiding  man.  Always  a  ready  and 
firm  upholder  of  civil  government,  he  came  to  its 
support  with  arms  in  hand  on  three  several  occa 
sions :  viz.,  in  the  Hardscrabble  riot  of  1824;  in 
the  Olney  Street  and  Snowtown  riots  of  1831; 
and  in  the  Dorr  War  of  1842.  In  any  public 
concern  he  showed  his  colors,  spoke  his  word, 
and  did  his  duty  manfully. 

He  led  and  sustained  the  movement  to  have 
the  Historical  Cabinet  kept  open,  and  its  va 
rious  collections  reduced  to  order  and  made  to 
subserve  the  best  interests  of  the  City  and  State. 
He  will  be  greatly  missed  at  the  meetings  of 
the  Historical  Society,  where  his  presence  was 
a  benediction,  and  at  the  meetings  of  the  Frank 
lin  Society,  in  which  he  took  a  lively  interest. 
Indeed,  the  Fire  Department,  to  which  he  used 
to  belong ;  the  Association  of  Mechanics  and 
Manufacturers,  of  which  he  was  at  one  time  presi 
dent  ;  Brown  University,  of  which  he  was  trustee 
for  fifty-six  years,  —  and  many  other  like  institu 
tions,  —  will  feel  keenly  his  loss.  He  was  a 
Rhode  Islander  of  Rhode  Islanders,  entering  the 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  23 

lists  as  a  champion  of  religious  liberty,  and  hurl 
ing  back  reproaches  that  had  been  heaped  upon 
the  founders  of  our  State.  He  did  much  to 
awaken  interest  in  the  study  of  local  institutions, 
and  to  cause  Rhode  Island  history  to  be  studied 
and  appreciated.  In  his  last  annual  address  as 
president  of  the  Historical  Society,  a  paper  that 
does  his  head  and  heart  credit,  he  makes  an  ear 
nest  appeal  to  the  members  of  that  institution  to 
see  that  Rhode  Island  history  is  truly  set  forth. 
Most  of  his  late  historical  writings  have  had  this 
object  in  view ;  prominent  among  which  is  his 
address  to  the  Historical  Society,  at  the  bicenten 
nial  of  the  burning  of  Providence,  April  10,  1876, 
on  the  Rhode  Island  System  of  Treatment  of  the 
Indians  and  of  establishing  Civil  and  Religious 

o  o 

Liberty.1 

Mr.  Allen's  lifelong  regard  for  the  resting- 
places  and  memories  of  the  dead  is  noteworthy. 
He  faithfully  served  for  thirty-two  years  as  a 
commissioner  of  the  North  Burial-ground.  He 
twice  secured  the  enlargement  of  the  ground, 
and  effected  marked  changes  in  its  general  as 
pect  and  condition.  He  tastefully  laid  out  and 
adorned  the  plateau  containing  the  ashes  of  his 

2  See  Letter  of  Ur.  James  W.  Beekman,  p.  100. 


24  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

family  and  ancestors,  and  designated  the  spot 
where  his  own  body  should  finally  rest.  He 
caused  to  be  erected  the  beautiful  bronze  tablet 
on  the  walls  of  St.  John's  Church,  to  the  memory 
of  his  Huguenot  ancestor,  Gabriel  Bernon,1  and 
built  the  tomb  over  his  remains  in  the  vaults 
beneath  the  church.  He  turned  his  benevolent 
regard  to  the  original  proprietors  of  this  country, 
the  rude  Sons  of  the  Forest.  He  pointed  out  the 
wrongs  and  outrages  to  which  they  had  been  sub 
jected.  He  invoked  sympathy  for  their  suffer 
ings;  and  in  response  to  his  address  before  the 
Historical  Society,  April  10,  1876,  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  receiving  the  official  congratula 
tions  of  two  distant  tribes  in  the  Dominion  of 
Canada,  the  Ojibways  and  the  Pottawatamies,2 
who,  in  their  distant  lodges,  "shook  hands  with 
him  in  their  hearts."  He  aided  in  erecting 
monuments  to  Massasoit  and  King  Philip,  and 
in  marking  sites  of  historic  interest  in  Bristol, 
Kingston,  Warren,  and  Rehoboth.  He  favored 
the  preservation  of  the  Indian  Pottery  Works 
at  the  Soapstone  Ledge  in  Johnston,  and  the 

1  Gabriel  Bernon's   sister    Marie   married   Benjamin   Faneuil. 
Their  son  Peter  built  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston. 

2  See  official  letters  and  Totems  of  these  tribes. 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN.  25 

erection  of  the  French  Memorial  in  the  North 
Burial-ground.  He  wrote  memorials  of  La 
fayette  and  Roger  Williams,  and  did  his  best 
to  secure,  in  connection  with  the  Roger  Wil 
liams  Monument  Association,  a  worthy  monu 
ment  to  the  latter.  He  sought  to  benefit  the 
erring  and  the  criminal,  serving  for  years,  in 
company  with  his  friend  Dr.  Wayland,  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Inspectors  of  the  State 
Prison.  He  was  a  promoter  of  many  worthy 
causes,  an  active  and  honorary  member  of  many 
scientific,  literary,  and  benevolent  institutions ; 
and  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  president 
of  four  public  societies. 

Mr.  Allen  never  forgot  that  he  was  once  a 
child.  Retaining  to  the  last  a  distinct  recollec 
tion  of  childhood,  —  its  trials  and  its  triumphs, 
its  joys  and  its  sorrows,  —  he  was  drawn  towards 
children,  and  led  to  give  them  the  benefit  of  his 
manifest  sympathy  and  friendship.  To  answer 
their  inquiries  he  would  often  greatly  incommode 
himself.  When  uro-ed  not  to  allow  children  to 

o 

interrupt  his  studies  with  their  questions,  his  ready 
reply  was :  "  I  must  answer  them  now  lest  they 
lose  their  interest,  and  the  opportunity  to  gratify 
and  benefit  them  be  gone  forever."  Through  life 


26  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

it  was  his  pleasure  and  his  habit  to  associate 
much  with  children  and  young  people.  He  was 
intimate  and  familiar  with  them, —  joining  in  their 
plays  and  sports,  manifesting  interest  in  their 
studies  and  plans  of  life,  and  largely  partaking 
of  their  spirit.  The  correspondence  which  he 
kept  up  with  juvenile  friends  would  be  regarded 
by  most  people  as  a  tax  upon  their  time  and 
energy.  To  him  it  was  a  pleasure  and  a  means 
of  renewing  his  youth.  He  acted  upon  the  prin 
ciple  that  no  one  has  a  right  to  mingle  in  society 
unless  he  can  lay  aside  his  personal  ills,  and  say 
or  do  something  for  the  pleasure  and  gratification 
of  his  associates.  Accordingly,  whatever  circle 
he  entered,  he  wore  no  knit  brow,  cast  no  shadow, 
marred  no  pleasure,  and  caused  no  restraint,  but 
rather  invited  freedom  and  ease,  and  imparted 
life,  light,  and  joy.  In  this  way  he  became  a 
favorite.  His  company  was  sought  and  prized. 
His  conversation  and  manners  were  suited  to 
each  occasion.  In  his  presence  no  one  thought 
of  age.  Indeed,  he  seemed  on  many  occasions 
the  personification  of  youth  and  manhood.  He 
abounded  in  life,  hope,  and  energy,  and  was  wont 
to  entertain  his  friends  with  pleasing  fancies,  and 
narrations  of  the  past. 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN.  27 

The  following  letters,  one  of  which  was  written 
about  a  year  and  the  other  about  a  month  before 
his  death,  will  sufficiently  illustrate  his  happy 
methods  of  amusing  and  instructing  the  young. 
Another  letter,  received  by  his  youthful  corre 
spondent,  through  the  mail,  after  his  death,  is 
reluctantly  omitted. 

PROVIDENCE,  March  21  st,  iSSi. 

MY  DARLING  GREAT-GRAND-DAUGHTER,  —  Oh,  what 
was  my  surprise  on  receiving  a  well-written  letter  signed 
with  your  name  !  Really,  I  could  hardly  believe  my 
eyes. 

I  was  so  glad  to  get  such  a  letter,  for  another  good 
reason,  because  the  person  who  could  write  one  such 
letter,  I  felt  sure  could  keep  on  writing  more. 

Now  I  shall  expect  a  nice  letter  from  you  every 
once  in  a  while,  when  you  can  spare  time  from  your 
studies. 

I  should  like  to  know  one  thing,  —  who  taught  you 
to  write  so  well  ?  Just  tell  me  in  your  next  letter. 

We  are  all  well ;  but  alas  !  our  dear  little  skye  terrier 
has  closed  his  eyes  in  a  sleep  that  knows  no  waking. 
We  all  shed  tears  when  we  buried  him  in  the  ground 
by  the  side  of  his  friend,  little  Prince.  I  made  a  cof 
fin  for  him,  and  W.  placed  beautiful  flowers  by  his  side. 
On  his  body  was  a  piece  of  white  cloth,  that  veiled  him 
from  our  sight,  while  we  were  looking  down  tearfully 
upon  his  little  humble  form,  which  once  bore  as  faithful 
and  loving  a  heart  as  ever  beat  in  a  mortal  bosom. 


28  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

When  you  come  to  Providence  I  will  lead  you  to  the 
spot  where  he  sleeps  beneath  the  verdant  turf ;  but 
when  we  placed  him  there,  a  white  bank  of  snow 
made  it  more  sad  to  us,  as  a  cold  bed  for  his  last 
repose. 

But  it  is  pleasant  to  remember  his  goodness,  now  he 
is  gone ;  as  it  is  also  to  remember  good  children  after 
they  are  laid  in  the  cold  ground. 

Come  soon  to  see 

Your  old  and  loving  grandfather, 

ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 

PROVIDENCE,  Feb.  7th,  1882. 

DARLING  GREAT-GRAND-DAUGHTER, —  Does  it  not 
sound  magnificent  to  call  you  a  Great,  Grand  Daugh 
ter,  when  all  the  time  I  know  you  are  my  dear  little 
darling  ? 

I  am  thankful  your  dog  did  not  take  a  deathly  cold 
by  sleeping  all  night  in  a  snowdrift.  Do  you  know 
that  near  the  pole  of  the  earth,  where  snow  and  ice  are 
more  plenty  than  wood  and  bricks,  the  people  build 
crystal  houses  of  blocks  of  ice,  and  sleep  in  them  every 
night,  very  comfortably  ?  And  also  the  great  polar 
bears  make  a  lodging  under  snowdrifts,  and  never  stir 
out  all  winter  long,  until  the  warm  spring  comes. 

They  take  one  long  nap  that  lasts  all  winter.  Is  it 
not  charming  to  think  of  such  pure  white  sheets  of  snow 
for  bedclothes,  that  never  require  to  be  washed, —  with  a 
great  saving  of  soap  and  boiling  ? 

I  am  delighted  that  you  are  fond  of  arithmetic.  I 
suppose  you  intended  to  show  me  how  you  go  walking 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN.  29 

to  school,  studying  a  book  all  the  way,  as  represented  by 
a  picture  in  the  upper  corner  of  your  letter. 

How  pleasant  it  will  be  to  you  to  have  a  whole 
room  by  yourself!  You  can  set  your  alarm-clock  to 
get  up  every  morning  at  sunrise,  and  begin  studying 
arithmetic. 

Your  Aunt  C.  will  take  you  this  letter,  if  she  ventures 
to  go  after  this  great  snowstorm  ;  but  she  is  alarmed 
by  your  account  of  the  big  drifts,  and  declines  the 
pleasure  of  sleeping  in  one,  like  the  dog. 

I  write  immediately  to  answer  your  agreeable  letter, 
because  I  know  you  expect  an  immediate  reply  ;  and  it 
is  always  proper  to  answer  letters  promptly.  Please 
give  my  love  to  all  your  lovely  family,  and  believe 
me  ever 

Faithfully  yours, 

ZACHARIAH  ALLEN, 

Mr.  Allen  was  strengthened  and  sustained  by 
hope,  faith,  and  charity.  His  creed  was  that  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  His  highest 
ideas  of  religion  were  drawn  from  Christ's  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  and  from  the  I4th  and  I5th  chap 
ters  of  John's  Gospel.  He  believed  the  Creator 
of  the  universe  to  be  benevolent ;  and  that  he 
would  in  his  own  time  and  way  bring  order  oat 
of  disorder,  light  and  form  out  of  darkness  and 
chaos,  hope  out  of  despair,  good  out  of  evil,  and 
life  out  of  death.  Accordingly  he  dwelt  on  the 


30  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

bright  side  of  life  and  sought  the  bright  side  of 
every  subject.  When  dark  pictures  were  brought 
to  his  notice  he  chose  to  view  them  in  the  most 
favorable  light.  Of  wrongs  and  injuries  he  sought 
to  understand  the  motive  and  the  cause,  and  ex 
ercised  tact  and  skill  in  their  removal.  He  had 
observed  and  pointed  out  violations  of  the  rights 
of  humanity,  and  of  domestic  animals,  long  before 
the  organization  of  societies  for  the  prevention 
of  cruelty. 

In  his  repeated  travels  abroad  he  enjoyed  op 
portunities  for  extended  observation,  which  he 
did  not  fail  to  improve.  While  in  Greece  he 
saw  one  day  a  man  riding  on  a  donkey,  while  his 
wife  trudged  along  by  his  side  with  a  load  of 
brushwood  on  her  head.  Indignant  at  such  a 
spectacle,  he  told  his  dragoman  to  say  to  the 
man  that  such  a  sight  as  that  could  not  be  seen 
in  America.  The  man  coolly  replied  :  "  Tell  that 
gentleman  that  he  must  be  a  stranger  here,  or 
he  would  know  that  in  Greece  women  are  plenty, 
but  donkeys  are  scarce."  When  in  Constan 
tinople  he  saw  a  procession  of  children  singing 
in  the  streets ;  and,  asking  what  it  meant,  the 
dragoman  said  they  were  scholars  escorting  a 
new  member  from  his  home  to  the  school,  with 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  31 

songs  and  expressions  of  good-will,  and  that  this 
was  the  customary  congratulation  and  escort.  Mr. 
Allen  often  referred  to  this  most  kindly  welcome, 
as  being  far  more  consistent  with  civilization  and 
Christianity,  than  the  sophomoric  practice,  preva 
lent  in  American  colleges,  of  hazing  freshmen, 
and  compelling  them  to  endure  indignity  and 
outrage. 

He  was  habitually  averse  to  harsh  and  severe 
measures  and  doctrines.  He  drew  a  nice  line  of 
distinction  between  the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth  and 
the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  former 
he  held  in  high  esteem,  while  the  latter,  with  some 
noble  exceptions,  failed  to  command  his  respect. 
The  stricture  of  John  Ouincy  Adams,  wherein 
Roger  Williams  was  arraigned  for  conscientious 
contumaciousness,  drew  from  him  on  one  occa 
sion  a  scorching  rebuke,  and  a  vindication  of  the 
right  of  Williams  to  share  with  Eliot  the  honor 
of  being  the  pioneer  missionary  to  the  Indians. 
The  Puritans,  he  said,  bore  sway  in  New  Eng 
land  during  the  early  period,  arraigning  and 
condemning  whom  they  would  and  could  before 
magistrates  and  councils  ;  and  now  he  thought 
it  full  time  that  they  should  in  turn  be  arraigned 
before  the  bar  of  History.  He  would  allow  no 


32  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 

excuse  for  their  treatment  of  Miantinomi,  Samuel 
Gorton,  and  Mary  Dyer. 

The  ground  of  Mr.  Allen's  support  of  the  gen 
eral  policy  pursued  from  the  first  by  the  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  and  of  his 
opposition  to  the  system  of  persecution  adopted 
against  both  Rhode  Islanders  and  Indians,  by 

C5  •' 

the  neighboring  colonies,  is  best  understood 
by  reference  to  his  Bicentennial  Discourse.  It 
was  to  him  a  cheering  sign  that  the  later  writers 
of  Massachusetts  —  jurists,  statesmen,  and  histo 
rians  —  already  acknowledge  the  folly  and  cru 
elty  of  that  persecution,  and  view  subjects  of  long 
and  bitter  controversy  in  a  truer  light.  Chief- 
Justice  Story  says: — 

The  fundamental  error  of  our  ancestors,  an  error 
which  began  with  the  settlement  of  the  colony,  was  a 
doctrine  which  has  since  been  happily  exploded,  —  I 
mean  the  necessity  of  a  union  between  Church  and 
State.  To  this  they  clung  as  to  the  Ark  of  their 
safety.  .  .  . 

The  arm  of  the  Civil  Government  was  constantly  em 
ployed  in  support  of  the  denunciations  of  the  Church ; 
and  without  its  forms,  the  Inquisition  existed  in  sub 
stance ,  with  a  full  share  of  its  terrors  and  its  violence. 

There  was  indeed  far  more  caution  in  shedding 
human  blood ;  but  there  was  scarcely  less  indulgence 
for  human  error. 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  33 

It  has  also  been  said,  with  as  much  truth  as 
force,  by  one  of  the  most  eloquent  of  modern  di 
vines,  that  "This  boasted  alliance  between  Church 
and  State,  on  which  so  many  encomiums  have 
been  lavished,  seems  to  have  been  little  more  than 
a  compact,  between  the  priest  and  the  magistrate, 
to  betray  the  liberties  of  mankind,  both  civil  and 
religious." 

Mr.  Allen  was  remarkable  for  the  wide  range 
of  his  intellect,  for  the  extent,  variety,  and  exact 
ness  of  his  information,  and  for  his  readiness  and 
ability  to  communicate  the  results  of  his  re 
searches  and  to  awaken  sentiments  akin  to  his 
own.  It  was  difficult  to  introduce  a  subject  on 
which  he  was  not  prepared  to  shed  light  by  his 
well-considered  remarks.  He  was  for  years  the 
Mentor  of  Providence.  In  cases  of  difficulty, 
doubt,  or  danger,  he  was  often  consulted,  and 
never  hesitated  to  speak  his  views.  When 
important  enterprises  were  brought  forward, 
he  was  always  prepared  to  aid  them,  or  en 
counter  them  with  a  logical  force  not  readily 
withstood.  His  various  reports  in  connection 
with  the  fire  department  of  Providence  would 
occupy  much  space,  and  be  an  interesting  chap 
ter  in  his  life.  What  he  did  for  the  introduction 

3 


34  MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

of  water/  the  part  he  took  in  perfecting  the 
steam-engine,  his  instrumentality  in  establishing 
a  system  of  mutual  fire-insurance 2  for  mill  prop 
erty,  and  his  views  with  regard  to  needed  sani 
tary  measures  in  the  heart  of  our  city,  are 
matters  of  history.  He  was  wont  to  make 
careful  investigations,  and  draw  from  his  stores 
of  knowledge,  giving  the  public  the  benefit  of 
his  mature  thought. 

His  varied  information  and  remarkable  mem 
ory  were  often  shown  at  meetings  of  the  Histori 
cal  Society,  when  he  followed  the  reading  of 
carefully  prepared  papers  with  remarks  that  were 
entertaining  alike  to  the  lecturer  and  the  audi 
ence.  The  author  of  Cosmos  could  repeat  from 
memory  the  name  of  every  member  of  the  dif 
ferent  presidential  cabinets  of  the  United  States, 
from  the  time  of  Washington  down.  Mr.  Allen 
was  perhaps  less  observant  of  the  cabinets  and  po 
litical  machinery  of  the  country,  but  his  memory 
was  no  less  tenacious  of  the  names  and  acts  of 

1  At  the  public  ceremony  on  the  introduction  of  water  into  the 
city,    Thanksgiving  Day,    1871,    his    Honor,  Mayor  Doyle,  called 
upon  Mr.  Allen,  as  "  The  Father  of  the  Water-works,"  to    let  on 
the  water.     This  public  recognition  of   his  services  in  that  import 
ant  enterprise  was  highly  appreciated. . 

2  See  Letter  of  Edward  Atkinson,  Esq.,  p.  96. 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN.  35 

the  statesmen  who  effected  the  -great  changes 
in  the  policy  of  our  government.  His  strength 
was  in  the  direction  of  scientific  truth.  In 
ventors  and  inventions,  the  various  branches  of 
industry,  the  advancement  of  his  city  and  State, 
the  progress  of  science,  and  the  great  prob 
lems  of  nature  engrossed  his  attention ;  and 
in  discussing  these  subjects,  his  memory  and 
his  intellectual  acquisitions  appeared  to  best 
advantage. 

In  his  efforts  to  attain  the  full  measure  of  man 
hood,  by  the  discipline  of  his  mind  and  the  ac 
quirement  of  knowledge,  he  acted  in  accordance 
with  the  old  adage :  "  To  be  accurate,  write 
much;  to  be  well-informed,  read  much  ;  to  have 
the  power  of  ready  expression,  converse  much." 
Thus,  with  the  view  of  mental  discipline,  accurate 
and  extended  knowledge,  and  power  to  communi 
cate,  he  wrote,  read,  and  conversed,  and  devoted 
his  energies  to  the  public  good;  often  remarking, 
as  he  pursued  this  course,  that  "  He  who  will 
work  for  nothing  and  find  himself,  will  never  lack 
employment." 

Mr.  Allen  was  a  literary  as  well  as  a  scientific 
man.  Books  were  to  him  a  solace  and  a  delight, 
as  well  as  a  means  of  instruction.  They  were 


36  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

ever  at  hand,  and  every  spare  moment  was  de 
voted  to  them.  He  retained  his  zest  for  the 
ancient  classics,  often  showing  his  familiarity  with 
them  by  quotations  and  analyses  of  language. 
He  also  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  literature 
of  the  day,  occasionally  surprising  young  friends 
by  the  extent  and  variety  of  his  reading,  and 
sometimes  amusing  them  by  repeating  from  mem 
ory  gems  of  poetry  or  striking  passages  from 
famous  orations. 

His  mind  was  naturally  exercised  over  difficult 
problems  of  science.1  While  visiting  the  Falls 
of  Niagara,  in  1841,  he  undertook  and  carried  out 
the  first  systematic  measurement  ever  made  of  the 
flow  of  that  mighty  river  and  of  the  power  to  be 
derived  from  the  Falls.2  He  shrank  from  no 
hardship  or  danger  in  the  work,  and  the  record 
of  its  results  is  preserved  in  Silliman's  American 
Journal  of  Science,  for  April,  1844.  His  advice 
was  frequently  sought  as  a  man  of  science  and  an 

1  See  New  York  Evening  Post,  p.  105. 

2  Quantity  of  water  at  Niagara  Falls  :  — 

22,440,000  cubic  feet  per  minute, 

701,250  tons  per  minute, 

4,533>334  actual  horse-power. 

From  Niagara  to  the  sea,  24,000,000  horse-power. 

Fall  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario,  331  feet. 

Fall  from  Lake  Ontario  to  the  sea,  234  feet. 


MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN.  37 

\ 

inventor ; 1  and  he  oft-times  turned  aside  from  his 
usual  pursuits  to  assist  the  discouraged  in  per 
fecting  inventions  that  in  time  proved  to  be  use 
ful,  and  sometimes  to  explain  to  over-sanguine 
persons  why  their  inventions,  or  conceits,  must 
fail  to  produce  the  results  sought.  Electricity 
was  early  a  favorite  study,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
last  studies  in  which  he  was  engaged.  His  theo 
ries  on  that  subject,  explained  in  his  last  impor 
tant  work,  on  Solar  Light  and  Heat,  drew  forth 
favorable  comments  from  advanced  scientific  men 
on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  ;  and  a  second  edition 
of  this  book  was  promptly  issued  to  supply  the 
demand.2 

He  was,  like  his  Huguenot  ancestors,  habitu 
ally  hopeful  and  cheerful.  However  dark  the 
night  or  mysterious  the  event,  he  saw  rays  of 
light,  and  ground  for  hope  and  comfort.  Ten 
months  before  his  departure,  after  hurrying  on  a 
bright  spring  Sunday  morning  to  the  church  of 
which  he  was  a  lifelong  attendant  and  a  commu 
nicant,  he  was  oppressed  by  the  closeness  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  fainted.  On  reviving  he  said,  as 
if  entertaining  a  pleasant  thought :  "  Why  could 

1  See  Letter  of  Stephen  Roper,  Engineer,  p.  106. 

2  See  List  of  Mr.  Allen's  Publications,  p.  107. 


38  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

I  not  have  made  my  exit  from  the  church  ?  It 
would  have  been  a  good  place  to  die  in."  The 
following  Tuesday  afternoon  he  came  into  the 
Historical  Cabinet,  with  the  freshness,  vigor,  and 
gayety  of  a  young  man,  saying:  "  This  morning 
Professor  Gammell  [senior  vice-president]  called 
on  me,  and,  after  expressing  solicitude  about  the 
state  of  my  health,  offered  to  take  charge  of  the 
meeting  this  evening,  and  really  urged  me  to  re 
main  quiet  at  home.  Out  of  respect  for  him  I  had 
to  adopt  some  measure  to  find  out  the  state  of  my 
health.  So  I  set  off  and  walked  first  to  Olney- 
ville.  I  then  retraced  my  steps,  and  attended  a  fu 
neral  with  you  [the  librarian]  on  Moore  Street. 
I  then  went,  via  Greenwich  Street,  to  Roger 
Williams  Park,  and,  crossing  the  Park  grounds, 
came  back  through  South  Providence.  Now,  hav 
ing  taken  this  walk  without  weariness,  I  think  I 
can  sit  an  hour  at  the  meeting  this  evening." 

The  correctness  of  his  conclusion  was  not 
questioned. 

On  a  more  recent  occasion  he  said,  in  reply 
to  a  word  of  congratulation  on  his  good  health  : 
"  Yes,  I  do  enjoy  good  health,  and  I  am  grateful 
for  it.  Yet  I  am  a  minute-man,  liable  to  go  at 
any  time,  and  the  sooner  the  better;  but  while 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 


39 


here  I  mean  to  make  this  machine  run  as 
smoothly  as  possible,  in  order  to  get  out  of  it  the 
utmost  comfort  and  power."  With  this  remark 
he  tripped  along  his  ample  hall,  showing  the 
nimbleness  and  vivacity  of  youth,  and  then  added  : 
"  Work  and  play,  gayety  and  sobriety,  have  their 
place  in  the  economy  of  this  life." 

It  was  the  wonder  of  his  friends  how  he  main 
tained  such  elasticity  of  body  and  mind.  To  a 
lady,  who  made  this  inquiry  shortly  before  his 
death,  he  promptly  replied  :  "  Why,  madam,  by 
keeping  my  body  in  temperance,  soberness,  and 
chastity,  and  eschewing  the  temptations  of  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil." 

In  one  of  the  writer's  walks  and  talks  with  Mr. 
Allen,  after  he  had  become  an  octogenarian,  in 
reply  to  the  inquiry,  "  How  do  you  keep  yourself 
so  fresh  and  healthy  ?  "  he  answered:  "  Each  day 
I  determine  to  make  the  best  of  myself.  As  the 
Wise  Virgins  in  the  parable  reserved  their  oil 
for  occasion  of  need,  so  I  study  to  know  when, 
how,  and  where  I  can  best  employ  my  powers 
of  mind  and  body." 

Mr.  Allen  had  a  keen  sense  of  the  humorous, 
and  a  flow  of  spirits  that  must  have  some  outlet, 
or,  as  he  expressed  it,  a  safety-valve. 


40  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

He  was  —  like  Baron  Humboldt,  whose  charac 
ter  he  greatly  admired  —  exceedingly  abstemious 
at  the  table,  where  it  was  his  delight  to  sit  and 
converse,  in  full  view  of  the  choicest  viands  ;  and 
wines  were  for  his  guests  rather  than  for  himself. 
Tobacco  in  every  form  he  loathed.  Exercising  a 
generous  hospitality,  he  gathered  under  his  roof 
and  around  his  board  persons  of  kindred  tastes 
and  pursuits,  from  far  and  near,  making  all  feel 
at  home  and  happy  in  the  presence  of  one  whose 
politeness  and  courtesy  came  fresh  from  the 
heart. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that, 
while  Mr.  Allen's  life  was  elevated  and  ennobled 
by  his  contact  with  the  learned  professions, 
his  career  was  in  the  line  of  his  early-acquired 
tastes  for  Natural  Science  and  Mechanical  Phi 
losophy. 

To  investigate,  control,  and  convert  the  forces 
of  nature  to  the  use  of  man  was  his  ambition, 
his  mission.  He  believed  that  winds,  waves,  and 
electricity  would  be  utilized,  during  the  coming 
age,  beyond  any  conception  of  the  present  gen 
eration.  Here,  he  was  wont  to  say,  is  a  bound 
less  domain  that  will  more  and  more  eno-ao^e  the 


attention  of  enlightened  men.     Into  this  field  he 


MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN.  41 

bade  aspirants  to  fame  and  honor  enter  and  con 
tend  for  the  prize.  Exhibitions  of  skill  and  en 
terprise  in  this  direction  never  failed  to  awaken 
his  admiration  and  to  draw  forth  expressions  of 
encouragement. 

With  great  interest  he  compared  the  loom  of 
Revolutionary  times,  and  the  machines  employed 
by  Samuel  Slater  in  his  first  manufacturing 
experiments,  with  the  wonderful  inventions  of 
the  present  day. 

Without  disparaging  the  hand  of  /Esculapius, 
yet  with  a  horror  of  the  old  saddle-bag  prac 
tice,  he  maintained  that  fountains  of  life  and 
health  exist  in  abundance  all  around  us,  and 
may  and  will  be  discovered.  Only  let  the  search 
be  made,  and  the  laws  of  life  and  health  be 
studied  and  observed,  and  these  blessings  will 
be  secured. 

In  his  later  years  a  psalm  of  thanksgiving  was 
ever  in  his  heart,  and  these  utterances  often  on 
his  lips  at  eventide :  "  Blessings  surround  us  on 
every  side,"  "  Thank  God  for  another  happy  day," 
"  I  nightly  pitch  my  moving  tent  a  day's  march 
nearer  home." 

Full  of  hope  —  with  faith  in  God,  and  in  man 
as  the  child  of  God,  for  whom  are  prepared 


42  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

through  Christ  the  heavenly  mansions  —  he  lived 
a  happy  and  useful  life. 

He  regarded  death  as  a  beneficent  ordinance. 
It  came  as  he  had  ever  prayed  it  might,  un 
heralded,  and  bringing  the  longed-for  rest. 

His  last  day  was,  as  usual,  devoted  to  active 
duty.  On  his  return  from  a  lecture  in  the  eve 
ning,  while  conversing  with  his  daughter,  he  sat 
down,  rested  his  head  upon  his  hand,  and  u  was 
not,  for  God  took  him." 

It  was  a  golden  sunset.  Death  was  swallowed 
up  in  victory. 

"  There  is  no  death  !     What  seems  so  is  transition ; 

This  life  of  mortal  breath 
Is  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  Elysian, 
Whose  portal  we  call  death." 


NOTICES    OF   THE    PRESS. 


r^ACHARIAH  ALLEN  is  dead.  The  blow  comes 
to  this  community  like  a  thunder-clap  from  a  clear 
sky.  The  man  who  was  the  embodiment  of  life,  energy, 
and  public  spirit  has  made  his  exit  from  the  world  when 
he  seemed,  though  eighty-six  and  a  half  years  old,  but 
to  have  attained  the  vigor  of  his  manhood.  He  was 
possessed  of  remarkable  force  and  elasticity  of  mind 
and  body,  showing  himself  equal  to  any  emergency. 
He  was  not  only  the  President  of  the  Historical  Society 
of  the  State,  but  he  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  grandest  historical  characters  of  the  present  period. 
Modest,  unostentatious,  and  manly,  he  accomplished  a 
work  that  will  cause  his  name  to  be  handed  down  with 
honor  by  his  fellow-citizens.  He  possessed  that  courage, 
breadth  of  vision,  vivid  fancy,  and  philosophic  wisdom 
which  made  him  the  pride  and  delight,  not  only  of  the 
Society  over  which  he  presided,  but  of  our  entire  com 
munity.  His  sudden  death,  which  occurred  at  his  home 
on  Magee  Street,  at  1 1  o'clock  last  night,  will  be 
mourned  by  countless  friends,  to  whom  he  has  become, 
endeared  during  the  many  years  of  an  upright  and 


44  NOTICES   OF   THE    PRESS. 

godly  life.  He  attended  the  Stoddard  lecture  in  Infantry 
Hall  last  evening,  apparently  in  his  usual  health,  and  on 
his  return  home  seated  himself,  and  died  without  a 
struggle,  with  a  smile  on  his  serene  countenance.  He 
died,  as  he  had  frequently  expressed  the  wish  to  die, 
calmly  and  quietly,  in  full  possession  of  all  his  faculties, 
and  with  his  soul  at  peace  with  God  and  man.  Mr. 
Allen  had  throughout  his  long  life  been  remarkably 
abstemious  in  his  habits,  had  taken  a  great  deal  of  out- 
of-door  exercise,  and  had  hardly  been  afflicted  by  a 
day's  sickness  since  his  early  childhood.  For  half  a 
century  he  had  been  a  member  of  St.  John's  Episcopal 
church,  was  actively  interested  in  all  literary,  historical, 
and  scientific  pursuits,  even  up  to  the  time  of  his  de 
cease,  and  was  prominently  connected  with  a  large  num 
ber  of  scientific  and  literary  associations. —  Providence 
Press,  March  18,  1882. 


THE  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  one  of  our  most  eminent 
and  venerable  citizens,  died  suddenly  last  night.  He 
attended  Stoddard's  lecture  at  Infantry  Hall,  and  felt  so 
well  that  he  declined  to  drive  home  with  his  family, 
preferring  to  walk.  When  he  reached  home,  his  daugh 
ter  met  him  in  the  hall,  and  asked  him  not  to  sit  up  and 
write  that  night,  as  was  sometimes  his  wont.  He  pleas 
antly  responded  that  he  would  not,  and  while  engaged 
in  conversation  he  seated  himself  by  a  table,  resting  his 
head  upon  his  hand  a  moment,  and  died  without  a 
struggle.  He  was  in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his 


NOTICES   OF  THE    PRESS. 
HON.   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

IMPROMPTU,    ON    HEARING   OF    HIS    DEATH. 

He  rests,  the  aged,  honored  man, 
Young  to  his  latest  breath, 
Strong  even  to  his  death, 

Firm  as  the  bravest  of  the  van. 

True  champion  of  our  State 
Whose  history  he  loved, 
Whose  principles  he  proved 

From  pulse  of  liberty  innate. 

With  broad,  exploring  scholarship, 

Untired  beneficence 

Born  of  benevolence, 
He  shared  the  highest  fellowship. 

His  heart,  in  generous,  ceaseless  beats, 
Genial  as  breath  of  spring, 
Buoyant  as  songster's  wing, 

Still  in  life's  mystic  circle  meets. 

Steadfast  the  valiant  part  he  played 
In  ranks  of  brotherhood, 
To  build  the  common  good, 

Till  life's  last  order  he  obeyed. 

And  now  he  finds  his  peaceful  rest ; 
Though  tears  bedew  his  pall, 
His  name,  among  us  all, 
Is  shrined,  endeared,  and  blest. 

F.   D. 
Evening  Bulletin,  March  18,  1882. 


45 


46  MEMOIR   OF  ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 


A   GOOD   MAN   GONE. 

IN  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  the  city  of 
Providence  and  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  have  endured 
a  loss  that  cannot  be  replaced.  As  a  scientist  and  in 
ventor  he  had  no  superior  in  our  State,  and  what  he  has 
-done  for  the  industries  of  Rhode  Island  and  New 
England  cannot  be  measured  in  money. —  Evening 
Telegram,  March  18,  1882. 


THE    LATE   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

THE  sudden  death  of  this  venerable  and  distin 
guished  citizen  is  an  event  of  unusual  interest  in  the 
community  in  which  he  has  always  lived.  He  had 
attained  to  the  age  of  eighty-six  years  and  six  months. 
No  man  now  among  the  living  has  been  so  closely 
identified  with  the  interests  of  Providence,  and  so  inti 
mately  associated  with  the  origin  and  early  manage 
ment  of  nearly  all  our  most  important  institutions.  A 
man  of  education  and  of  varied  attainments,  of  great 
intellectual  activity,  of  rare  public  spirit,  and  at  the 
same  time  of  singular  industry  and  economy  in  the 
use  of  time,  he  has  written  books  and  dissertations 
on  a  large  variety  of  subjects,  both  scientific  and  his 
torical,  and  has  performed  an  amount  of  work  for  the 
promotion  of  public  interests,  such  as  perhaps  has 
been  recorded  of  no  other  citizen  of  the  generation 
to  which  he  belonged. 


NOTICES   OF   THE   PRESS.  47 

Mr.  Allen  was  born  in  Providence,  Sept.  15,  1795, 
and  was  the  son  of  Zachariah  and  Anne  (Crawford) 
Allen.  The  family  came  from  Dorsetshire,  England,  in 
1636.  He  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1813,  and, 
it  is  believed,  was  the  latest  survivor  of  his  class. 
Among  its  members  were  Joseph  K.  Angell,  Job  Dur- 
fee,  Romeo  Elton,  Joel  Hawes,  Enoch  Pond,  and  Thom 
as  Shepard.  Of  these,  Dr.  Enoch  Pond  died  in  January 
last,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one  years,  still  at  the  head  of 
the  Theological  Seminary  in  Bangor,  Me.  Mr.  Allen 
studied  law  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  James  Burrill,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1815,  and  has  long  been  the 
senior  member  of  the  bar  of  Rhode  Island.  He  also 
studied  medicine  at  the  medical  school  then  connected 
with  Brown  University,  and  received  from  its  professors 
a  certificate  which  would  have  entitled  him  to  a  place 
in  the  profession,  had  he  been  disposed  to  use  it.  He, 
however,  after  a  few  years,  decided  to  turn  away  from 
both  these  professions,  and  to  engage  in  the  business  of 
manufacturing,  which  at  that  time  was  beginning  to 
enlist  very  largely  the  capital  of  the  State  and  the  en 
terprise  of  its  citizens ;  and  in  this  business  he  continued 
to  be  actively  engaged  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

But  occupations  like  these,  attractive  as  he  found 
them  to  be,  did  not  engross  his  entire  attention.  He 
early  began  to  study  the  principles  of  mechanical 
science,  on  which  this  industry  must  depend  for  its  suc 
cessful  prosecution.  He  prepared  a  treatise  on  Prac 
tical  Mechanics,  which  was  long  used  by  those  whose 
pursuits  demanded  a  knowledge  of  manufacturing  ma 
chinery.  In  1825  he  went  to  Europe  to  study  the  con- 


48  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

dition  of  woollen  manufactures,  and  travelled  in  England, 
France,  and  Holland.  The  results  of  his  observations  in 
these  countries  were  published  in  a  work  of  two  volumes, 
known  as  the  "  Practical  Tourist."  In  subsequent  years, 
his  fondness  for  mechanical  science  led  him  to  still 
higher  inquiries,  quite  independent  of  the  practical 
applications  to  which  he  at  first  gave  his  attention.  In 
a  work  entitled  "  Philosophy  of  the  Mechanics  of  Na 
ture,"  published  in  1851,  he  grappled  with  some  of 
those  great  problems  of  the  material  universe  which 
Laplace  had  attempted  to  solve  in  the  Mecanique 
Celeste ;  and  in  another  work,  published  so  recently  as 
1879,  and  entitled  "Solar  Light  and  Heat,"  he  again 
enters  the  same  distant  realms  of  scientific  research. 
Both  these  volumes  have  been  pronounced,  by  eminent 
men  of  science,  works  of  singular  acuteness  and  pro 
found  investigation.  He  has  also  written  much  on  sub 
jects  connected  with  the  history  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
has  published  volumes  and  tracts  on  "  The  Early  Set 
tlers  of  New  England,"  "  The  Treatment  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  Indians,"  "The  Suffrage  Rebellion,"  and  other 
kindred  subjects,  and  has  left  many  carefully  prepared 
papers  still  unpublished. 

His  intimate  connection  with  the  manufacturing 
interests  of  Rhode  Island  led  him  to  inquire  into  the 
whole  subject  of  manufacturing  machinery,  and  also  of 
water-power,  and  the  best  modes  of  its  application  and 
use.  His  fertile  and  suggestive  mind  was  constantly 
contriving  improvements,  many  of  which  were  of  great 
importance  in  the  development  of  the  industry  to  which 
they  pertained.  He  was  the  original  inventor  of  the 


NOTICES   OF   THE   PRESS. 


49 


automatic  cut-off  valve  for  the  steam-engine,1  an  in 
vention  which  was  patented  in  1833,  and  also  of  the 
extension  rollers,  which  are  still  in  general  use  in 
mills.  He  devised  a  mode  of  saving  the  surplus  waters 
of  the  Wonasquatucket  River,  and  originated  the  sys 
tem  of  Mutual  Insurance  adopted  by  the  great  manu 
facturing  establishments  of  New  England.  He  intro 
duced  into  the  Fire  Department  of  the  city  the  hydrau- 
lion  engines,  as  they  used  to  be  called, —  a  very  great 
improvement  on  their  predecessors,  —  which  were  sub 
sequently  adopted  in  Boston  and  in  other  cities.  He 
contrived  a  hot-air  furnace  for  houses,  even  before  the 
use  of  anthracite  coal  had  become  common.  He  also 
frequently  contributed  articles  to  scientific  journals, 
making  important  suggestions  which  he  had  no  leisure 
himself  to  carry  into  effect. 

If,  from  these  scientific  and  literary  labors,  which  he 
delighted  to  mingle  with  the  cares  of  active  business, 
we  turn  to  the  long  series  of  services  which  he  has  ren 
dered  to  the  higher  interests  of  the  community,  we 
discern  still  more  clearly  the  fibre  of  his  character  and 
the  controlling  forces  of  his  life.  Avoiding,  as  far  as 
possible,  all  official  positions,  he  has  rendered  very  im 
portant  services  in  promoting  every  judicious  enterprise 
and  every  valuable  institution  which  has  had  its  origin 
among  us  in  his  lifetime.  He  early  served  in  the  Town 
Council,  as  Judge  of  Probate,  and  as  a  Representative 
in  the  General  Assembly.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest 
advocates  and  one  of  the  most  devoted  friends  of  public 
schools,  and  has  given  a  vast  amount  of  time  and  labor 

1  See  Letter  of  Stephen  Roper,  Engineer,  p.  106. 
4 


50  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 

to  their  management  and  improvement,  —  and  that,  too, 
in  years  when  they  had  comparatively  few  friends.  He 
was  the  first  to  urge  on  public  attention  the  introduction 
of  water ;  and  the  great  advantages  in  this  respect,  now 
possessed  by  the  people  of  Providence,  are  to  be  ascribed 
to  him  more  than  to  any  other  single  man.  A  great 
and  beneficent  work  like  this  was  not  to  be  accomplished 
without  continual  struggle  and  many  disappointments, 
that  succeeded  each  other  for  twenty  years  before  it  was 
finally  undertaken  by  the  city  government.  He  had 
been  a  trustee  of  Brown  University  since  1826,  a  period 
of  fifty-six  years,  and  he  received  from  the  University 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  in  1851.  He 
was  one  of  the  leading  founders  of  the  Providence 
Athenaeum,  and  has  often  served  on  its  Board  of  Di 
rectors.  On  the  founding  of  the  Butler  Hospital  for 
the  Insane,  in  1845,  ne  was  one  °f  tne  original  trus 
tees  and  a  member  of  its  building-committee.  He 
was  also  intimately  associated  with  the  important 
movement  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Free 
Public  Library,  of  which  he  was  a  trustee  from  its  be 
ginning.  He  was  one  of  the  original  corporators  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,  for  many  years  its 
senior  Vice-President,  and  since  1880  its  President.  To 
no  other  person  is  that  society  so  much  indebted  for  its 
maintenance  and  prosperity.  Even  at  his  advanced 
period  of  life,  he  has  performed  for  it,  as  President,  a 
vast  amount  of  useful  work,  and  imparted  to  all  its 
members  additional  interest  and  activity  in  its  affairs. 

Mr.   Allen  became  a  member  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Domestic  Industry, 


NOTICES   OF   THE   PRESS.  51 

in  1824,  and  had  outlived  all  of  his  associates  of  that 
period.  He  always  manifested  an  interest  in  the  objects 
and  work  of  the  society,  and  within  the  last  year  has 
been  an  active  participant  in  its  regular  and  occasional 
meetings. 

Far  enough  from  complete  is  this  brief  enumeration 
of  the  varied  services  which  Mr.  Allen  has  performed 
for  the  generations  among  whom  he  has  lived.  Those 
which  we  have  named,  however,  will  illustrate  the  ver 
satility  and  resources  of  his  intellect,  and  the  self- 
sacrificing  public  spirit  and  extraordinary  personal 
activity  which  marked  his  life.  His  manners  were 
genial  and  kindly,  and  he  was  always  ready  to  impart 
information  to  those  in  every  condition  who  came  to 
ask  it.  He  was  exceedingly  fond  of  society  ;  and  at  his 
own  home,  which,  until  less  than  ten  years  ago,  had 
been  visited  by  no  domestic  bereavement,  he  delighted 
to  dispense  a  generous  and  elegant  hospitality.  He 
was  unusually  fond  of  children.  Their  visits  to  him 
were  always  welcome  even  in  his  busiest  hours,  and  he 
was  never  happier  than  when,  in  his  later  years,  he 
gathered  at  his  family  board  the  three  generations  of 
his  descendants.  He  had  long  been  a  member  of  St. 
John's  Episcopal  Church,  with  which  his  ancestors  had 
always  been  connected,  and  of  which  his  great-grand 
father,  the  Huguenot,  Gabriel  Bernon,  had  been  the 
principal  founder.  To  its  worship  and  to  all  its  inter 
ests  he  was  devotedly  attached.  Though  his  frame 
was  slight,  his  constitution  was  remarkably  strong.  His 
vigor,  whether  of  body  or  mind,  was  but  slightly  im 
paired  by  age,  and  he  walked  the  streets  and  ascended 


52  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

the  hills  of  Providence  with  a  speed  and  elasticity  which 
was  hardly  equalled  by  those  who  were  twenty  years 
his  junior.  He  had  scarcely  been  seriously  ill  in  his 
life,  and  his  quiet  and  painless  death  was  doubtless  that 
which  he  would  have  chosen,  in  preference  to  every 
other,  as  the  termination  of  his  career  on  earth. —  Provi 
dence  Journal,  March  20,  1882. 


FUNERAL   OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN. 

THE  funeral  services  of  the  late  Zachariah  Allen 
were  observed  at  St.  John's  Church,  on  North  Main 
Street,  at  12  o'clock  this  noon.  The  seats  in  the  audi 
torium  of  the  church  were  filled  with  the  representative 
men  of  the  city  and  State,  who  had  assembled  to  show 
their  respect  for  the  man  whom  they  honored  in  the 
fulness  and  strength  of  life.  There  were  also  present 
delegations  from  the  Historical,  Franklin,  and  Veteran 
firemen's  societies,  the  Engineers'  Association,  and  the 
vestry  of  St.  John's  Church,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

The  services,  which  were  those  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  were  read  by  Bishop  Clark  and  the  Rev.  C.  A. 
L.  Richards,  no  eulogy  being  pronounced.  The  re 
mains  were  in  a  plain  black  casket,  on  which  rested  a 
wreath  of  violets,  a  sheaf  of  ripened  wheat,  and  a  cross 
composed  of  dark-green  laurel  leaves.  The  choir  sang 
the  chant,  "  Lord,  let  me  know  mine  end,"  and  the 
hymns,  "  Forever  with  the  Lord,"  and  "  Jesus  Lives." 
The  remains  were  conveyed  to  the  North  Burial-ground, 
where  they  were  interred.  About  fifty  private  carriages 


NOTICES   OF   THE    PRESS.  53 

were  observed  about  the  church  and  in  the  long  funeral 
cortege.  Bishop  Clark  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richards,  each, 
wore  emblems  of  mourning,  consisting  of  white  scarfs 
drawn  over  the  right  shoulder  and  knotted  at  the  left 
hip.  Attached  to  each  of  the  scarfs,  at  the  shoulder, 
was  a  large  black  rosette.  —  Providence  Press,  March  21, 
1882. 

RHODE  ISLAND  has  lost  one  of  its  foremost  citizens 
in  the  death  of  Zachariah  Allen,  who  closed  a  long 
life  of  usefulness  last  week,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six 
years  and  a  half.  Mr.  Allen  was  graduated  at  Brown 
in  1813,  and  was  the  last  survivor  of  his  class.  Among 
his  classmates  were  the  Rev.  Dr.  Joel  Hawes  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Enoch  Pond.  Mr.  Allen,  though  educated 
a  lawyer,  went  early  into  manufacturing,  and  did  much 
to  make  Rhode  Island  prominent  in  that  industry,  — 
giving  special  attention  to  the  development  of  water- 
power  and  the  improvement  of  the  steam-engine  and 
of  machinery.  He  himself  invented  the  automatic  cut 
off  valve  for  steam-engines,  and  the  extension-rollers 
still  used  in  mills.  He  also  invented  an  improved  fire- 
engine,  and  contrived  a  hot-air  furnace  for  houses.  His 
treatises  on  both  scientific  and  historic  subjects  have 
been  numerous  and  of  high  merit.  He  was  probate 
judge  and  member  of  the  Assembly ;  was  first  to  urge, 
and  did  more  than  any  other  one  man  to  secure,  for 
Providence  its  water-supply  system ;  was  among  the 
earliest  advocates  of  public  schools ;  was  trustee  of 
Brown  University  for  fifty-six  years ;  one  of  the  found 
ers  of  the  Athenaeum,  of  the  Butler  Hospital,  of  the 


54          '    MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN. 

Free  Library,  and  of  the  Historical  Society,  and  was 
president  of  the  last  named.  The  Providence  Journal 
says  of  him,  in  an  able  review  of  his  life,  that  "  no  man 
now  among  the  living  has  been  so  closely  identified 
with  the  interests  of  Providence,  and  so  intimately  as 
sociated  with  the  origin  and  early  management  of  nearly 
all  our  most  important  institutions."  Mr.  Allen  was  the 
father-in-law  of  Mr.  William  D.  Ely,  a  former  resident 
of  this  city.  —  Hartford  Cour ant,  March  27,  1882. 


RECENT    DEATH. 

THE  venerable  Zachariah  Allen,  whose  death  at 
Providence,  R.  I.,  was  announced  on  Saturday,  was 
born  in  September,  1795,  and  his  ancestral  name  is 
found  in  the  earliest  records  of  Plymouth  Colony.  The 
first  calico-printing  in  New  England  was  done  by  his 
father,  who  imported  cotton  from  India.  An  ancestor 
on  his  mother's  side,  named  Gabriel  Bernon,  was  a 
Frenchman,  who  fled  to  Boston  from  La  Rochelle  in 
1688,  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  He 
obtained  a  grant  of  2,500  acres  of  land  at  Oxford, 
Mass.,  and  planted  a  French  colony  there.  In  the 
records  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  (vol.  ii. 
series  3)  it  is  stated  that  Bernon  came  from  France,  and 
built  a  mill  for  manufactures  at  Oxford,  and  a  fort  for 
protection  against  the  Indians.  Mr.  Zachariah  Allen 
received  his  education  at  Medford,  Mass.,  Exeter,  N.  H., 
and  Brown  University,  Rhode  Island.  He  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  the  Rhode  Island  courts  in  1815. 


NOTICES   OF   THE   PRESS.  55 

In  the  "  History  of  Arboriculture,"  published  by  Pro 
fessor  Charles  S.  Sargent  of  Harvard  University,  it  is 
shown  that  Mr.  Allen  took  the  lead  in  New  England,  in 
the  year  1819,  in  planting  acorns,  chestnuts,  and  locusts, 
for  fuel  and  timber;  and  some  of  the  trees  of  which 
he  secured  the  planting  were  used  in  the  Charlestown 
Navy  Yard  for  building  vessels  during  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion.  The  improved  fire-engines  introduced  into 
Boston  by  Mayor  Ouincy  were  made  after  a  pattern 
approved  by  Mr.  Allen.  He  was  very  successful  in  his 
efforts  to  improve  machinery.  He  devoted  a  great  deal 
of  his  time  to  scientific  and  mechanical  pursuits  until 
late  in  life.  To  the  last  he  has  devoted  many  hours 
a  day  to  books  and  study.  —  Evening  Transcript,  Boston, 
March  20,  1882. 


A    USEFUL   LIFE. 

THE  death  of  Zachariah  Allen,  at  Providence,  R.  I., 
is  the  best  possible  topic  for  an  essay  on  a  represent 
ative  Rhode-Islander.  Mr.  Allen  might  be  called  a  true 
American,  and  a  representative  New-Englander,  for  he 
was  all  that,  but  it  seems  best  to  call  him  a  typical 
Rhode-Islander ;  and  if  the  whole  story  of  his  long  life 
were  written  out,  as  it  deserves,  it  would  make  a  most 
wonderful  tale.  Mr.  Allen  was  born  September  15, 
1795,  at  Providence,  and  died  March  17,  1882,  complet 
ing  a  life  of  almost  eighty-seven  years, —  a  life  rarely  or 
never  clouded  by  physical  illness,  and  devoted  to  what 
soever  his  singularly  fresh  and  fertile  mind  thought  gen 
erally  useful  or  profitable.  Unlike  most  men  engaged 


56  MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH    ALLEN. 

in  the  affairs  of  peace,  he  was  wholly  unselfish,  unless 
he  may  have  desired  some  recognition  of  what  he  had 
done  for  others.  Mr.  Allen  was  born  of  a  distin 
guished  family,  the  blood  of  Plymouth,  Scotland,  and 
the  Huguenot  Gabriel  Bernon  coursing  through  his 
veins.  He  was  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  the 
Class  of  1813,  and  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1815.  He 
was  married  in  1817,  and  the  happy  union  lasted  until 

1873- 

His  whole  life  was  devoted  to  public  affairs,  such  as 
public  improvements,  progress  in  manufacturing,  and 
public  economy.  His  father  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  first  calico-printer  in  the  United  States,  and  this  fact 
seems  to  have  influenced  the  son  through  a  singularly 
long,  unclouded,  and  useful  life.  Mr.  Allen  caused  the 
first  scientific  survey  of  Providence  to  be  made,  about 
sixty  years  ago.  In  1822  he  organized  a  system  of  ex 
tinguishing  fires,  which  was  copied  by  Boston  in  Mayor 
Ouincy's  time.  Before  that  he  had  set  a  public  exam 
ple  in  tree-culture.  In  1822  he  built  the  first  reservoir 
in  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  storing  power  to 
be  used  in  manufacturing. 

When  steam  began  to  supplement  water-power  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  Mr.  Allen  improved  the  en 
gines  by  inventing  the  automatic  cut-off  valves,  which 
were  patented  in  1833,  and  are  still  employed  by  the 
best  engineers.  In  1821  he  had  constructed  the  first 
furnace  for  domestic  heating  purposes.  He  was  the  first 
to  calculate  the  power  of  Niagara  Falls,  as  appears  in 
Silliman's  Journal  of  April,  1844.  It  was  he  who  estab 
lished  the  principle  of  Mutual  Insurance  of  mill  property. 


NOTICES   OF   THE    PRESS.  57 

Mr.  Allen  invented  the  tests  and  framed  the  laws  for 
regulating  the  sale  of  explosive  oils. 

He  improved  machines,  he  invented  a  better  appara 
tus  for  the  transmission  of  power  from  the  motor  to  the 
machine,  he  was  the  first  to  suggest  evening  schools  for 
the  working-people  of  New  England,  and  he  took  an  ac 
tive  part  in  the  establishment  of  many  public  institutions. 
He  published  many  essays  and  sketches,  several  volumes 
in  pure  or  applied  mechanics,  and  many  reports. 

He  took  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  societies 
and  associations  of  all  kinds  which  had  the  public 
good  as  an  object.  He  was  one  of  the  trustees  of 
Brown  University  for  more  than  half  a  century.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  he  was  President  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society;  and  there  is  hardly  a  scientific,  liter 
ary,  or  benevolent  association  in  the  State,  which  he 
did  not  help  to  found,  and  to  serve  after  its  organiza 
tion.  In  short  he  was  ever  ready  to  advance  with  his 
time,  which  seemed  to  his  youthful  mind  too  slow  for 
the  golden  opportunities  offered  everywhere. 

Mr.  Allen  was  a  typical  Rhode-Islander  in  his  per 
sonal  independence.  He  never  hesitated  to  ridicule  the 
politicians,  whom  he  thought  the  least  useful  of  men. 
While  very  fond  of  society,  and  specially  fitted  for  the 
pleasures  of  intellectual  company  or  polished  people, 
he  remained  throughout  life  a  singularly  simple  man, 
cordial,  frank,  docile,  ever  ready  to  say  what  he  knew, 
and  never  willing  to  tolerate  injustice,  ignorance,  pre 
judices,  or  shams. 

It  was  a  common  thing  for  Mr.  Allen  to  describe, 
from  personal  recollection,  how  New  England  and 


58  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

Europe  fared  before  the  era  of  railroads,  or  to  recount 
the  conversations  he  had  with  prominent  men  sixty 
and  seventy  years  ago.  Up  to  the  time  of  his  death 
he  attended  society  meetings  or  public  lectures  with 
the  zeal  and  zest  of  a  beginner ;  and  a  new  discovery 
pleased  him  quite  as  much  as  did  social  progress  and 
the  advancement  of  honest  independence. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  match  this  record.  It  is  rare 
that  any  life  is  spared  so  long  and  is  so  well  preserved ; 
for  of  senility  there  was  hardly  a  trace  in  Mr.  Allen, 
who  always  delighted  in  the  society  of  polished  and 
vivacious  young  people.  His  cheerfulness,  gayety,  and 
enthusiasm  never  failed  him. 

Up  to  the  hour  of  his  death  he  was  as  active,  keen, 
and  full  of  interest  in  everything  and  everybody  about 
him,  as  a  young  man  just  starting  in  life.  He  worked 
to  the  last;  and  upon  the  desk  at  which  he  died, 
calmly  and  without  pain,  lay  a  half-written  page  upon 
the  history  of  the  early  settlers  of  Rhode  Island,  for 
the  benefit  of  whose  descendants  he  had  so  long  and 
so  faithfully  labored. —  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  March 
20,  1882. 


ACTION    OF    THE    RHODE    ISLAND 
HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


A  T  a  special  meeting  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society, 

held  on  Tuesday  evening,  March  21,  1882,  to  take  action 

on  the  death  of  its  honored  President,  Professor  WILLIAM  GAM- 

MELL,  the  Senior  Vice-President,  called  the  meeting  to  order, 

and  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

ADDRESS    OF    PROFESSOR   GAMMELL. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SOCIETY, —We  meet  this  even 
ing  to  render  the  tribute  of  grateful  respect  and  honor 
which  is  due  to  the  memory  of  our  venerable  President, 
the  late  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  whose  funeral  we  have 
to-day  attended.  His  life  had  been  extended  far  be 
yond  the  ordinary  period  fixed  for  men  to  live  on  earth. 
To  the  oldest  of  us  who  are  here  present  he  seemed  to 
belong  to  a  generation  in  advance  of  our  own.  Very 
few  of  us  were  born  when  he  was  already  entering  upon 
active  life.  We  seldom  meet,  in  the  crowds  of  busy  men, 
one  who  has  lived  so  long,  as  he.  His  life  began  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  it  has  been  prolonged  into  the  last  decade  but  one 


60  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

of  the  nineteenth.  It  is,  in  many  respects,  the  most 
remarkable  life  that  has  been  lived  among  us  since  any 
of  us  have  been  on  the  stage  of  existence.  Even  from 
an  early  period  it  was  crowded  with  activities  and  enter 
prises  of  public  importance,  and  with  studies  and  labors 
that  were  designed  for  the  good  of  others,  and  it  would 
now  be  difficult  to  name  any  considerable  undertaking, 
connected  with  our  social  or  industrial  interests,  in  which 
he  has  not  borne  a  prominent  part.  Of  a  young  man 
beginning  life  with  such  surroundings  as  he  had,  much 
was  naturally  expected,  and  all  that  could  have  been 
expected  has  been  amply  fulfilled  in  his  long  career 
in  the  city  of  his  birth  and  his  residence. 

Educated  at  the  University,  where  he  graduated  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  he  pursued  the  study  of  both  law 
and  medicine,  but  in  a  few  years  abandoned  them  both, 
and  engaged  in  that  manufacturing  business  which  has 
long  engrossed  so  many  of  the  most  gifted  men  in 
Rhode  Island ;  and  with  this  he  was  connected  to  the 
end  of  his  life.  I  think,  however,  that  the  strongest 
bent  of  his  mind  was,  after  all,  rather  in  the  direction 
of  scientific  investigation  and  mechanical  invention  than 
of  active  business  pursuits.  The  latter  he  entered  upon 
from  choice  or  necessity,  but  to  the  former  he  always 
gave  himself  as  by  a  natural  and  irrepressible  impulse. 
The  investigations  of  science  were,  in  their  beginnings, 
it  may  be,  tributary  to  his  daily  occupations;  but, 
wholly  irrespective  of  this,  he  continued  to  pursue 
them,  to  inform  himself  about  them,  and  to  take  delight 
in  them,  above  all  other  subjects  of  interest,  to  the  end 
of  his  life.  The  elaborate  works  which  he  wrote  in 


RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.       6 1 

connection  with  science,  and  the  inventions  which  he 
made  in  the  mechanic  arts,  have  been  of  great  value  and 
are  still  highly  esteemed. 

But  more  remarkable  than  any  of  these  are  the  ser 
vices  which  he  has  rendered  as  a  citizen  to  the  com 
munity  in  which  he  has  always  lived.  He  has  been  the 
originator  and  the  active  promoter  of  nearly  every  con 
siderable  public  improvement  which  has  been  accom 
plished  here  in  his  time.  He  made  the  first  accurate 
survey  of  the  town  streets ;  he  introduced  hydraulic 
engines  in  the  Fire  Department,  and  devised  reservoirs 
for  storing  surplus  water  for  times  of  drought  in  the 
mill-streams ;  he  made  improvements  in  the  steam- 
engine  and  in  the  machinery  for  finishing  cloth ;  he 
devised  the  system  of  Mutual  Insurance  among  manu 
facturers,  and  suggested  new  legislation  to  regulate  the 
sale  of  explosive  oils.  He  early  associated  himself  with 
the  Franklin  Society  for  Promoting  the  Study  of  Sci 
ence,  with  the  Association  of  Mechanics  and  Manu 
facturers,  and  with  the  Rhode  Island  Society  for  the 
Encouragement  of  Domestic  Industry.  In  all  these 
he  has  at  all  times  held  leading  positions.  He  was 
always  an  active  promoter  of  free  schools,  and  was  the 
first  to  propose  evening  schools  for  the  working-classes. 
He  assisted  in  the  founding  of  the  Providence  Athe 
naeum,  of  the  Butler  Hospital,  and  the  Free  Public 
Library,  and  he  has  been  a  Trustee  of  the  University 
for  fifty-six  years. 

I  am  not  able  here  to  present  a  full  list  of  Mr.  Allen's 
services  to  the  public ;  but  there  is  one  to  which  I  wish 
particularly  to  refer,  both  because  it  is  one  of  the  most 


62  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

creditable  of  his  whole  life,  and  also  because  it  strik 
ingly  illustrates  the  energy,  the  perseverance,  and  the 
public  spirit  that  belonged  to  his  character,  —  and  this 
is  his  long  and  finally  triumphant  struggle  to  introduce 
water  into  this  city.  I  well  remember  that  I  met  him 
in  Italy  in  1851,  I  think  after  the  plan  had  been  pro 
posed  and  had  been  pronounced  impracticable.  He 
remarked  to  me  that  since  he  had  seen  the  ruined 
arches  of  the  old  aqueducts  stretching  across  the  Cam- 
pagna  at  Rome,  which  once  supplied  the  city  with 
water,  he  had  been  inspired  with  new  courage.  "  If," 
said  he,  "  the  Romans  could  obtain  pure  water  by  such 
works  as  those,  two  thousand  years  ago,  it  is  idle  to  say 
that  our  plan  is  impracticable.  I  shall  never  give  it 
up."  And  he  never  did.  The  question  was  repeatedly 
submitted  to  the  voters  and  decided  in  the  negative ; 
but  the  majority  constantly  diminished,  and  at  last  it 
faded  away,  and  the  work  was  undertaken.  We  all 
remember  the  grand  consummation ;  but  we  do  not 
remember,  perhaps  we  never  knew,  how  much  effort 
and  determination  and  ceaseless  labor  were  required 
to  bring  it  about.  Among  those  who  accomplished  it 
Mr.  Allen  deserves  the  first  place:  and,  if  I  remember 
aright,  his  Honor,  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  on  the  occa 
sion  of  their  first  opening,  pronounced  him  the  "  Father 
of  the  Water-works  of  Providence." 

But  I  must  especially  speak  of  Mr.  Allen  in  his  con 
nection  with  this  Historical  Society.  Very  soon  after 
its  formation,  in  1822,  he  became  one  of  its  members; 
and  his  first  conspicuous  service  was  to  procure  for  it, 
while  in  England,  a  copy,  made  at  his  own  expense,  of 


RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.        63 

Roger  Williams's  Key  to  the  Indian  Language,  which 
he  found  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford.  This  was 
published  in  the  first  volume  of  our  Collections.  From 
that  time  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  has  been  one  of  its 
most  active  members  and  most  generous  supporters.  He 
was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Rhode  Island 
history.  He  believed  that  our  founders  and  forefathers 
had  been  misunderstood  and  misrepresented  by  the 
historians  of  other  States,  and  he  was  mortified  that  we 
had  so  long  neglected  to  remove  the  false  impressions 
which  had  been  made.  He  especially  desired  that  our 
own  people  should  understand  their  State  history,  and 
he  has  done  much  to  enable  them  to  do  so.  No  mem 
ber  of  the  Society  now  living  has  done  nearly  so  much. 
Not  less  than  seven  important  addresses  —  on  subjects 
connected  with  our  early  history,  and  delivered  before 
this  Society  —  have  been  separately  printed  ;  and  quite 
as  many  more,  delivered  here  and  elsewhere,  remain  in 
manuscript. 

In  1870  he  was  chosen  Vice-President,  and  for  several 
years  in  this  capacity  presided  at  our  meetings;  and  in 
1880  he  succeeded  the  late  Hon.  Samuel  G.  Arnold  in 
the  office  of  President.  Though  coming  to  this  office  at 
so  late  a  period  in  life,  he  has  filled  it  in  a  manner  cred 
itable  to  himself  and  to  the  Society.  He  seemed  to 
us,  his  associates,  to  carry  in  his  memory  the  leading 
events  of  American  history  almost  as  if  he  had  been 
their  contemporary.  Indeed  his  life  had  spanned  all 
but  the  first  twelve  years  of  the  acknowledged  lifetime 
of  the  Republic,  and  he  had  lived  in  the  administration 
of  each  of  its  presidents.  Though  his  hearing  had 


64  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

become  dull,  his  memory  was  unimpaired,  and  his  char 
acteristic  zeal  was  still  untiring.  He  gave  to  the  Society 
a  great  deal  of  time,  care,  and  labor.  He  has  been  a 
frequent  visitor  at  its  cabinet,  has  looked  diligently  after 
its  interests,  and  has  contributed  his  full  share  to  all  its 
public  exercises.  Of  what  other  member  have  we  ever 
received,  in  so  brief  a  period,  so  much  assistance  in 
what,  after  all,  most  concerns  the  real  life  and  work  of 
our  Society ! 

Old  age  brought  to  him  but  few  of  its  customary  bur 
dens,  but  it  was  filled  with  the  serene  thoughts  and 
hopes  it  is  always  fitted  to  suggest.  He  had  long  been 
accustomed,  almost  daily,  to  express  to  those  dearest 
to  him  his  thankfulness  for  the  blessings  of  his  closing 
years ;  and  he  often  repeated  at  evening  the  lines  of  the 
hymn  which  was  sung  at  his  funeral  to-day:  — 

"  Yet  nightly  pitch  my  moving  tent 
A  day's  march  nearer  home." 

At  the  close  of  his  remarks,  Professor  GAMMELL  presented 
for  adoption  and  entry  upon  the  Records  the  following 

MEMORIAL   MINUTE. 

ZACIIARIAH  ALLEN,  LL.D.,  the  President  of  this 
Society,  died  in  Providence,  March  17,  1882,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-six  years  and  six  months. 

He  was  born  in  Providence,  September  15,  1795,  and 
was  descended  from  ancestors  who  were  among  the 
early  settlers  of  the  town.  A  graduate  of  Brown  Uni 
versity  in  the  Class  of  1813,  and  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1815,  he  long  ago  became  the  senior  member  of  the 


RHODE   ISLAND   HISTORICAL   SOCIJETY.       65 

legal  profession  in  Rhode  Island.  In  1822  he  engaged 
in  business  as  a  manufacturer,  and  in  this  he  continued 
to  the  end  of  his  life.  His  tastes,  as  well  as  his  occu 
pations,  early  led  him  to  devote  much  attention  to 
physical  science,  and  especially  to  the  principles  of 
mechanics,  and  their  application  to  the  industrial  arts. 
These  studies  soon  gave  rise  to  far  broader  investiga 
tions  in  Mechanical  Philosophy ;  of  which  in  later  years 
he  published  the  results,  in  volumes  which  have  received 
high  commendation.  He  has  also  been  the  author  of 
inventions  and  improvements  in  machinery,  which  have 
secured  for  him  a  wide  reputation  among  the  votaries 
of  science  and  of  the  mechanic  arts. 

As  a  benefactor  of  the  community  in  which  he  has 
always  lived,  Mr.  Allen  holds  a  conspicuous  position 
among  those  who  have  sought  to  promote  its  highest 
interests,  —  for  his  zeal  in  maintaining  and  extending 
popular  education  and  encouraging  popular  industry, 
for  his  public  spirit  in  securing  some  of  our  most  impor 
tant  public  improvements,  and  for  the  labors  he  has  per 
formed  in  founding  and  sustaining  several  of  our  most 
cherished  institutions  of  learning  and  benevolence. 

He  became  a  member  of  this  Society  immediately 
after  its  organization  in  1822,  and  obtained  for  it,  while 
in  England,  the  materials  for  the  first  volume  of  its  pub 
lications  ;  and  he  has  at  all  times  been  one  of  its  most 
active  and  useful  members.  He  has  assisted  in  gather 
ing  its  materials  for  local  history,  and  in  promoting  all 
the  objects  for  which  it  was  founded.  He  has  prepared 
numerous  communications  and  addresses  for  its  meet 
ings,  and  has  been  one  of  its  best  supporters  and  friends. 

5 


66  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

In  1870  he  was  chosen  its  Senior  Vice-President,  and  in 
this  capacity,  for  considerable  periods,  he  frequently 
presided  at  its  meetings,  and  had  charge  of  its  affairs. 
In  1880,  on  the  death  of  the  late  Hon.  Samuel  G. 
Arnold,  he  was  chosen  its  President.  The  fidelity  and 
care  with  which  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  this 
office,  the  time  which  he  has  given  to  the  Society, 
and  the  labor  which,  at  the  age  of  more  than  fourscore 
years,  he  has  performed  in  its  behalf,  have  not  been 
equalled  for  the  same  period  by  those  of  any  of  his 
official  predecessors ;  and  they  have  commanded  the 
grateful  admiration  of  all  his  associates,  who  now  place 
upon  their  records  this  brief  expression  of  the  apprecia 
tion  and  respect  in  which  they  hold  the  character  and 
services  of  their  late  venerable  President. 


ADDRESS   OF   EX-GOVERNOR  WILLIAM  W.  HOPPIN. 

IT  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  life  and  services 
of  Mr.  Allen,  in  the  few  moments  allotted  to  me  on  this 
occasion ;  that  duty  must  be  reserved  for  his  future 
biographer.  On  the  morning  when  the  death  of  our 
honored  President  had  become  known,  I  chanced  to  be 
standing  near  two  citizens  who  were  engaged  in  earnest 
conversation.  Turning  to  me,  one  of  them  said  :  "  This 
whole  country  is  made  poorer  to-day  by  the  death  of 
Mr.  Zachariah  Allen," — an  acceptable  eulogium  on  one 
whose  knowledge  and  experience,  gained  by  a  long  life 
of  study  and  active  work,  was  distributed  with  a  free 
and  generous  purpose  for  the  common  good  of  all. 


RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.        67 

Passing  over  the  period  of  his  boyhood  and  college 
days,  we  find  Mr.  Allen,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  a  student 
of  law  in  the  office  of  Mr.  James  Burrill,  of  whom  it  may 
be  said  that  he  ranked  first  among  the  distinguished 
men  of  Rhode  Island.  How  far  the  example  of  James 
Burrill  influenced  and  shaped  the  character  of  Mr. 
Allen  we  cannot  tell.  That  he  was  like  Mr.  Burrill  in 
the  exactness  of  his  knowledge,  and  wonderful  power 
of  retaining  facts,  cannot  be  doubted. 

Perhaps  no  other  man  in  the  State  surpassed  Mr. 
Allen  in  the  marked  ease  with  which  he  held  all  his 
intellectual  wealth  at  his  instant  command.  His  name 
calls  up  and  associates  itself  pleasantly  in  my  mind  with 
the  names  of  James  Burrill,  Thomas  A.  Jenckes,  and 
Judge  Ames,  • —  a  galaxy  of  great  minds  which  Rhode 
Island  has  given  to  the  country. 

The  conversational  powers  of  Mr.  Allen  were  excep 
tionally  fine  ;  he  delighted  in  the  opportunity  of  impart 
ing  knowledge,  and  freely  drew  upon  the  exhaustless 
stores  of  his  almost  universal  information  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  wished  instruction  or  advice. 

On  Mr.  Allen's  return  from  Europe  in  1826,  while 
still  a  young  man,  he  published  his  first  book,  entitled 
"  The  Science  of  Mechanics  as  applied  to  the  Useful 
Arts  in  Europe  and  America;  "  and  since  that  time  he 
has  given  us,  at  various  intervals,  other  works  on  lit 
erary  and  scientific  subjects,  —  all  useful  and  practical 
books,  which  retain  their  value  to  this  day. 

I  need  scarcely  refer  to  the  interest  he  took  in  mat 
ters  relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  city,  —  the  schools, 
the  Fire  Department,  the  Athenaeum,  the  Free  Library, 


68  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

and  everything  in  fact  that  could  add  to  the  prosperity 
and  attractiveness  of  Providence.  As  a  member  of  the 
city  government,  as  President  of  the  Mechanics'  Associ 
ation  and  of  the  Franklin  Society,  he  fulfilled  the  duties 
of  his  office  with  such  conscientiousness  and  thorough 
ness  that  the  community  owe  to  him  more  than  can  be 
measured. 

The  great  work  of  his  life,  entitled  "  The  Philosophy 
of  the  Mechanics  of  Nature,  and  of  the  Source  and 
Modes  of  Transmission  of  Natural  Motive-power,"  which 
he  began  in  1851,  has  been  only  recently  completed,  in 
his  last  volume  entitled  "  Solar  Light  and  Heat." 

Thus,  his  long  and  useful  public  life,  upon  which  he 
entered  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  continued  uninter 
rupted  for  sixty  years,  —  a  rare  and  wonderful  record, 
which  few  men  can  show. 

When  we  consider  Mr.  Allen's  individuality  of  char 
acter,  his  rare  natural  force  of  mental  power,  his  unusual 
opportunities  for  development,  his  genial  disposition  and 
great  facility  for  imparting  knowledge,  and  the  fact  that 
sixty  years  of  active  public  life,  with  unimpaired  intel 
lect,  had  perfected  his  judgment,  we  must  feel  that  in 
his  death  this  community  has  sustained  a  loss  that  is 
indeed  irreparable. 


REMARKS  OF  THE  RT.  REV.  THOMAS  M.  CLARK,  D.D. 

I  I^EEL,  Mr.  President,  that  to-night  we  are  a  bereaved 
household.  Two  weeks  ago  this  evening  our  venerable 
President  occupied  this  chair,  and  spoke  to  us  with 
his  usual  vigor  and  clearness ;  and  at  the  close  of  the 


RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.       69 

meeting  I  had  the  privilege  of  accompanying  him  home, 
and  all  the  way  he  was  as  full  of  genial,  pleasant  talk 
as  ever.  How  little  did  it  occur  to  any  of  us  that  that 
was  the  last  time  we  should  meet  here ;  how  little  we 
thought  that  we  should  come  here  this  evening  to 
mingle  our  sympathies  and  condolences  over  such  a 
loss  as  this.  Somehow  we  came  to  attach  an  idea  of 
permanence  to  Mr.  Zachariah  Allen.  It  seemed  almost 
impossible  that  he  should  ever  be  taken  away.  I  never 
knew  so  old  a  man  who  was  so  young  a  man  as  he. 
When  he  died  his  eye  wras  not  dimmed  nor  his  natural 
force  abated.  In  his  old  age  he  had  none  of  the  tcdi- 
ousness  or  obscurity  which  so  often  falls  to  the  lot  of 
old  men.  There  was  hardly  any  subject  that  ever  came 
up,  here  or  anywhere  else  where  he  happened  to  be, 
of  which  he  could  not  say  something  that  was  fresh  and 
new.  One  of  the  chief  features  of  the  man  was  that  he 
always  seemed  to  be  able  to  relate  something  out  of  his 
experience,  bearing  on  the  subject  under  discussion, 
thereby  throwing  life  and  light  into  it. 

We  shall  miss  him  very  much.  It  has  been  well  said 
that  there  is  no  man  in  this  community  that  has  done 
as  much  for  the  city  and  State  as  he.  There  is  no  man 
that  is  dead  who  has  left  so  many  marks  behind  him 
to  show  that  he  existed.  If  we  should  be  asked  what 
monument  there  is  to  him,  we  should  reply  that  his 
monument  is  to  be  seen  here,  there,  and  everywhere. 
There  has  been  no  work  of  special  importance  in  the 
city  during  the  past  half-century  in  which  he  was  not 
prominent.  There  is  another  feature  of  his  character, 
to  which  allusion  has  not  been  made ;  I  refer  to  the 


70  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 

singular  absence  in  him  of  anything  like  personal  ambi 
tion.  He  never  seemed  to  care  anything  about  himself. 
I  never  heard  of  his  electioneering  to  be  made  Mayor 
or  Governor  or  Senator.  He  became  President  of  this 
Society  at  a  very  advanced  period  of  his  life.  He 
waited  till  he  was  eighty-four  years  of  age,  and  then 
he  accepted  it  with  becoming  modesty  and  personal 
gratification.  If  even  then  he  had  never  been  elected 
to  this  position,  his  interest  in  the  Society  would  have 
been  as  great  as  ever.  You  can  generally  judge  from 
a  man's  conversation  whether  or  not  he  cares  very  much 
about  himself.  Although  he  was  a  great  talker,  and 
very  often  had  a  great  many  personal  reminiscences 
to  give  us,  there  was  no  undercurrent  in  his  remarks 
signifying  that  he  had  any  personal  purpose  to  serve 
whatever.  There  are  very  few  men  who  leave  such 
a  mark  on  the  history  of  their  time  as  Mr.  Allen  has 
done.  There  are  many  who  have  inherited  all  the 
advantages  that  he  inherited,  and  yet  they  live,  die,  and 
are  buried,  and  then  forgotten,  and  there  is  nothing  to 
show  that  they  have  lived.  They  roll  along  on  the 
surface  till  they  are  swallowed  up  in  the  great  ocean. 
Mr.  Allen  will  be  remembered  in  this  city  as  long  as 
men  live  to  drink  pure  water  that  comes  from  the 
streams  in  the  country,  and  as  long  as  those  institutions 
exist  which  he  did  so  much  to  establish. 

As  to  the  literary  and  scientific  works  of  Mr.  Allen, 
there  is  a  great  deal  to  be  said.  If  he  had  never  done 
anything  but  write  books,  he  would  perhaps  have  been 
more  talked  about  than  he  really  was.  We  forget  the 
author  in  the  actor.  It  is  more  magnificent  to  act  than 


RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.       71 

to  write.  If  he  had  never  done  anything  but  talk  and 
write,  he  would  have  been  eminent.  In  1827  he  pub 
lished  a  book  of  travels  that  was  full  of  interest  and 
information,  containing  a  great  deal  more  than  many 
of  our  books  of  travel  to-day.  Then  his  work  on  Solar 
Light  and  Heat  suggests  the  thought  that  he  was  en 
dowed  with  a  somewhat  prophetic  vision.  He  antici 
pated,  in  this  last-named  work,  a  great  many  of  what  are 
considered  more  modern  discoveries.  He  seemed  to 
come  by  intuition,  without  knowing  it  himself,  on  facts 
which  other  men  have  arrived  at  by  logic  and  study. 
The  range  of  the  man's  mind  was  very  great.  He  could 
write  a  good  book  on  travels  or  science,  or  a  historical 
paper.  He  was  a  kind  of  encyclopaedia.  He  had,  too, 
a  great  sympathy  for  young  people.  Boys  who  were 
just  struggling  to  get  at  the  first  rudiments  of  science 
would  find  him  ever  ready  to  help  them.  He  seemed 
to  keep  up  the  freshness  of  his  own  life  by  his  sym 
pathy  with  the  young  ones.  There  is  no  danger  of 
exaggerating  his  strong  and  good  points. 

He  was,  too,  a  reverential  man.  He  was  not  above 
going  to  church,  as  some  men  eminent  in  science  are 
at  the  present  day.  He  believed  in  God  and  another 
world,  and  that  there  is  a  spiritual  side  to  all  those 
things  in  which  he  and  others  were  interested.  He 
looked  on  this  world  as  the  symbol  of  another.  He 
believed  in  "  God  the  Father,  maker  of  heaven  and 
earth."  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  we  fill  his 
place  in  this  Historical  Society,  and  before  we  shall 
find  a  man  willing  to  do  as  much  as  he  has  clone.  I 
only  hope  that  in  transacting  great  matters  of  public 


72  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 

importance  the  mantle  of  Mr.  Allen  may  fall  on  some 
one  who  will  know  how  to  wear  it. 

At  the  close  of  Bishop  Clark's  address,  Professor 
GAMMELL,  recalling  his  reference  to  Mr.  Allen's  interest 
in  the  young,  said  that  when  Mr.  Allen's  grandson  was 
a  child,  he  and  his  companions  used  to  gather  around 
him  almost  every  day,  and  Mr.  Allen  gave  them  their 
first  inspiration  in  scientific  inquiry.  The  result  was 
that  those  boys  formed  a  Society,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  get  information  upon  various  subjects,  and  which 
exists  to-day. 


LETTER   OF   THE   REV.   E.    M.   STONE, 
LATE  LIBRARIAN  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 

PROVIDENCE,  March  21,  1882. 
Hon.  AMOS  PERRY,  Secretary,  &c. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  Your  notice  that  a  meeting  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society  will  be  held  this  even 
ing,  to  take  appropriate  action  on  the  lamented  death 
of  its  venerable  President,  the  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen, 
has  been  received.  I  regret  that  I  cannot  be  present 
on  the  occasion,  and  beg  permission  to  offer,  in  this 
form,  a  brief  but  heartfelt  tribute  to  the  memory  of  a 
valued  personal  friend,  with  whom  for  many  years  I 
held  pleasant  official  relations. 

Few  men  surpassed  Mr.  Allen  in  varied  attainments. 
He  was  at  home  alike  in  history,  literature,  science,  and 
art.  Up  to  the  day  of  his  death  his  love  of  research 


RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


73 


was  as  fresh,  and  his  zeal  in  prosecuting  it  as  active,  as 
when,  in  early  years,  he  studied  in  its  details  the  history 
of  Rhode  Island. 

Of  local  history,  the  mind  of  Mr.  Allen  was  a  com 
plete  encyclopaedia.  The  part  he  took  in  town,  muni 
cipal,  and  State  affairs,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  many  institutions  which  adorn  our 
city,  qualified  him  to  answer  authoritatively  the  inqui 
ries  of  antiquaries,  as  few,  if  any,  persons  now  living  can. 

But  he  has  gone,  and  I  mourn  in  his  departure  a 
friend  whose  sunny  face  in  the  street  and  cordial  wel 
come  in  his  home  will  ever  be  cherished  among  my 
choicest  memories.  It  was  my  privilege  to  meet  him 
at  his  house  a  few  days  before  his  decease,  and  the 
recollection  of  that  interview  is  of  the  most  pleasurable 
character.  Happy  for  us  if,  in  all  that  diffuses  knowl 
edge  and  promotes  human  happiness,  our  activities 
accord  with  the  active  life  of  our  late  honored  Presi 
dent.  Thrice  happy  for  us  if,  when  our  mortal  puts 
on  immortality,  our  house  shall  be  found  set  in  order. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

EDWIN    M.    STONE. 


REMARKS    OF   MR.   AMOS    PERRY. 

FORTY-FIVE  years  ago  a  member  of  the  Senior  Class 
of  Harvard  College  came  a  stranger  to  Rhode  Island, 
and,  while  wending  his  way  on  foot  from  Providence 
to  a  neighboring  village,  was  saluted  by  a  gentleman 
driving  that  way  in  an  open  carriage :  "  Good-morning, 


74  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

sir;  will  you  take  a  seat  with  me?  Riding  is  easier 
than  walking."  The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  a 
conversation  ensued  on  our  ordinary  college  curriculum, 
and  the  course  of  study  best  calculated  to  answer  the 
ends  of  life.  The  gentleman  freely  expressed  his  views 
in  regard  to  a  liberal  education.  Without  disparaging 
the  classics,  he  thought  our  youth  should  be  taught  to 
love  and  admire  the  works  of  creation  amid  which  they 
dwell.  He  expressed  the  highest  appreciation  of  the 
Book  of  Nature,  apparently  estimating  the  worth  of  the 
studies  pursued  according  to  the  aid  they  afford  in 
understanding  and  interpreting  the  great  volume  that 
is  ever  open  to  all.  He  thought  the  natural  sciences 
had  never  been  assigned  their  proper  place  in  our 
courses  of  instruction.  Elevate  them,  and  they  will 
elevate  society,  was  his  idea.  This  casual  interview  be 
gan  an  acquaintance  which  ended  only  with  the  death 
of  Mr.  Allen.  Fifteen  years  after  this  conversation, 
salutations  were  exchanged  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Le- 
man  in  the  presence  of  sublime  Alpine  scenery.  Mr. 
Allen  was  prepared  to  appreciate  and  enjoy  the  works 
of  nature  and  of  art  in  the  Old  World  as  in  the  New. 
He  was  the  same  man  at  home  and  abroad.  God's  uni 
verse  was  his  temple.  The  act  of  courtesy  and  the  con 
versation  referred  to  were  in  keeping  with  his  life.  His 
charm,  his  glory,  was  his  elevated  spirit  and  kind  re 
gard  for  those  around  him.  Beyond  and  above  his 
extensive  and  varied  scientific  and  literary  attainments, 
was  the  man  who  delighted  to  gratify  and  benefit  all 
who  came  within  the  sphere  of  his  influence.  He 
lifted  up  his  fellow-travellers  with  pleasing  fancies,  and 


RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


75 


then  led  them  to  the  contemplation  of  great  truths.  He 
was  a  Christian  gentleman,  beloved  and  revered  by  the 
members  of  this  Society,  and  by  all  who  had  the  privi 
lege  of  his  acquaintance. 


REMARKS    OF    CHARLES    E.    CARPENTER,  ESQ. 

ALTHOUGH  my  remarks  will  not  be  directly  in  the  line 
of  what  has  been  so  eloquently  said  by  those  who  have 
preceded  me,  I  find  it  difficult  to  refrain  from  offering  a 
small  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Allen,  in  his  con 
nection  with  an  organization  recently  formed,  —  the 
Providence  Veteran  Firemen's  Association,  —  of  which 
he  was  most  properly  elected  the  first  President.  Think 
ing  of  him  in  the  many  honorable  and  useful  positions 
he  both  filled  and  adorned,  I  am  surprised  that  at  his 
great  age,  and  with  his  refined  tastes,  he  should  have 
entered  into  this  sort  of  association  with  such  alacrity 
and  heartiness,  —  attending  nearly  every  meeting,  and 
contributing  liberally  of  money,  and  of  facts  appertain 
ing  to  the  early  history  of  the  department  of  suction- 
engines  in  Providence.  I  cannot  forget  how  he  entered 
our  quarterly  meeting  of  Veterans  during  the  heavy 
snow-storm  of  January  3 1st,  his  elastic  step  and  glowing 
face  calling  forth  applause  from  the  few  much  younger 
men  who  had  felt  it  quite  enough  for  them  to  brave  the 
elements  at  that  time. 

But  the  fact  is,  our  friend  was  not  simply  a  scholar ; 
he  was  a  practical  man  of  the  people,  and  loved  to 
apply  in  popular  ways  his  ready  knowledge  to  promote 


;6  MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

the  interests  of  old  and  young  in  his  native  Providence, 
which  he  had  seen  rise  from  a  town  of  moderate  size  to 
an  important  city. 


REMARKS  OF  JAMES  N.  ARNOLD. 

MR.  JAMES  N.  ARNOLD,  of  North  Kingstown,  said  he 
wished  to  speak  for  the  Narragansett  country.  After 
referring  to  the  honor  in  which  the  late  Mr.  Allen  was 
held,  the  speaker  referred  to  his  simplicity  of  character 
and  his  charitable  disposition.  Llis  hours  of  leisure 
were  spent  in  studying,  deeply  and  thoroughly,  the  his 
tory  of  his  beloved  State.  Than  he,  Rhode  Island  had 
few  worthier  sons,  and  certainly  none  that  loved  her 
more.  None  went  further  than  he  in  studying  the  at 
tacks  of  her  enemies,  and  none  hastened  sooner  with  his 
pen  to  her  rescue.  He  saw  in  the  "  Great  Narragansett 
Question  "  the  key-note  and  the  origin  of  nearly,  if  not 
all,  the  calumny  that  has  been  written,  in  passion,  against 
his  own  gallant  State ;  and  to  read  the  letters  he  wrote, 
urging  a  brother-historian  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  our 
State,  was  as  refreshing  as  a  benediction.  These  letters 
breathe  through  them  the  freshness  and  the  vigor  of 
youth,  united  with  the  calm  and  considerate  judgment 
of  the  historian.  Rhode  Island  and  her  record,  as  writ 
ten  in  her  annals,  to  him  was  a  subject  ever  new.  Amid 
these  scenes  he  never  was  tired  of  wandering,  nor  did 
he  weary  of  urging  them  upon  the  attention  of  his 
fellow-men.  His  published  writings  are  ample  proof  of 
this  statement.  He  loved  the  whole  of  Rhode  Island. 
The  most  inland  or  humblest  town  was  as  near  and  as 


RHODE    ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


77 


dear  to  him  as  the  most  wealthy  and  opulent.  The  fact 
that  it  made  a  part  of  Rhode  Island  was  enough  to 
enlist  his  veneration,  respect,  and  love. 


REMARKS    OF   J.    ERASTUS    LESTER,    ESQ. 

I  HAVE  come  a  long  way  from  my  home,  on  the 
great  hill  at  the  west,  to  this  eastern  eminence  of  the 
old  town,  to  pay  my  humble  yet  heartfelt  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  my  venerated  and  steadfast  friend.  The 
great  disparity  in  our  ages  may  furnish  a  reason  for  sur 
prise  that  there  should  exist  a  friendship  between  us,  in 
place  of  mere  admiration  on  my  part  for  the  learning 
and  practical  wisdom  of  Mr.  Allen.  In  the  community 
of  study  and  investigation,  age  and  youth  stand  on  equal 
ground  in  the  pursuit  of  truth. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Allen  was  made 
while  I  was  a  student  in  yonder  college  halls ;  and  from 
that  day  to  the  day  of  his  death  I  counted  him  one  to 
whom  I  might  always  turn  for  aid  and  suggestions  in 
the  prosecution  of  my  studies.  Indeed,  in  whatever  I 
was  interested,  the  intimation  thereof  to  Mr.  Allen 
always  called  forth  from  his  fact-crowded  mind  the 
surest  hints  to  further  and  fresher  fields  of  research. 
To  me  his  intercourse  with  young  men,  so  full  of  sym 
pathy,  so  courteous  and  considerate,  forms  one  of  his 
chiefest  virtues.  Too  often  men  who  have  reached  his 
age  and  distinction  withdraw  themselves  in  haughty 
reserve  from  communication  with  the  young  men,  strug 
gling  on  to  take  the  places  and  assume  the  duties  of 


78  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

those  who  pass  on  into  the  shadowy  land.  To  him  it 
was  always  duty,  enlivened  by  zest  in  the  pursuit  of 
all  knowledge,  to  give  those  younger  than  himself  all 
the  help  and  encouragement  in  his  power ;  and  those  to 
whom  he  has  been  a  stanch  friend  and  benefactor  in 
this  wise  are  no  meagre  company. 

Mr.  Allen's  life  was  not  one  to  pique  the  curiosity. 
He  lived  for  his  fellows,  for  the  municipality,  for  the 
State.  It  was  open  and  unostentatious.  The  town,  in 
which  he  was  born  and  always  lived,  owes  him  much, 
and  to  preserve  his  memory  should  be  one  of  her  sacred 
trusts.  The  State,  whose  authority  he  respected,  has 
been  honored  by  his  citizenship,  and  her  name  made 
more  illustrious  by  his  labors.  Our  Society,  in  which  he 
took  such  an  intelligent  interest,  honors  itself  whenever 
it  shall  recall  his  memory  or  tell  of  what  he  wrought. 
When  we  say  there  is  no  one  to  take  his  place,  do  we 
say  more  than  that  a  great  man  has  fallen?  The  life 
and  example  of  such  men  help  others  to  be  prepared  to 
take  the  places  made  vacant.  In  the  advancing  steps 
of  civilization  we  are  warranted  in  saying,  that  there  arc 
more  young  men  of  to-day  fitted  to  take  his  place,  than 
there  were,  at  the  outset  of  his  long  and  laborious  life, 
to  take  the  place  assumed  by  him  ;  and  in  saying  this, 
there  is  no  disparagement  to  our  friend,  for  he,  by  his 
many  and  varied  services,  has  done  more  than  any 
other  man  in  this  community  to  educate  and  fit  young 
men  for  such  places.  He  was  a  masterful  man. 

The  world's  great  procession  presses  onward,  though 
many  fall  out;  and  as  in  Addison's  "  Vision  of  Mirza," 
the  throng  appears  just  as  dense,  and  those  who  fall 


RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY.       79 

through  the  bridge  are  not  missed.  Even  great  and 
famous  men,  falling  in  the  midst  of  life's  battle,  stay  not 
the  onward  march,  and  those  who  pass  from  sight  in 
the  fulness  of  years  are  not  mourned  by  the  great 
world ;  but  it  is  reserved  to  a  narrow  circle  of  friends 
and  neighbors  to  gather  up  and  cherish  the  sweet  re 
membrances  of  a  lifetime.  If  that  Eastern  philosophy 
be  true,  which  tells  us  that 

"  Death 
is  that  first  breath, 

Which  our  souls  draw  when  we  enter 

Life," 

then  this  passing  on  is  but  fruition ;  and  in  the  case  of 
our  friend  it  became  glorious.  The  tired  and  weary 
body  laid  itself  to  rest ;  and  what  to  our  dull  eyes  appears 
the  all  of  life,  went  out  as  calmly  and  quietly  as  fades 
the  candle  when  the  oil  is  burned.  His  life  is  not  back 
of  us ;  it  is  before  us,  as  a  beacon-light  to  guide  into 
safe  havens.  Can  I  do  more  than  to  recall  the  words 
of  Longfellow  when  his  friend  Felton  laid  himself  down 
to  sleep?  — 

"Thou  hast  but  taken  thy  lamp  and  gone  to  bed; 
I  stay  a  little  longer,  as  one  stays 
To  cover  up  the  embers  that  still  burn." 


8o  MEMOIR   OF  ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 


REMARKS    BY  JUDGE   STINESS. 

THE  Hon.  John  H.  Stiness,  being  called  upon  to 
speak  as  a  representative  of  the  profession  of  the  law, 
said,  that  the  followers  of  every  vocation  naturally  turn 
with  feelings  of  pride  and  satisfaction  to  those  of  their 
fellows  who  have  an  honored  name,  and  it  had  given 
him  pleasure  to  know  that  Mr.  Allen  for  many  years 
had  been  the  oldest  member  of  the  legal  profession,  and 
one  of  its  noblest  ornaments  among  the  citizens  of  our 
State.  It  had  been  a  pleasure  to  see  a  man  so  inter 
ested  in  all  the  affairs  of  life,  —  so  great  a  benefactor  to 
those  about  him,  both  in  public  and  private  matters,  — 
live  to  the  age  that  he  had  reached,  and  yet  retain  appar 
ently  the  full  vigor  of  his  prime  of  life.  He  had  often 
regretted  that  Mr.  Allen  had  not  devoted  himself  to  the 
active  practice  of  the  law ;  for  with  his  energy,  philan 
thropy,  and  powers  of  mind,  he  would  certainly  have 
made  a  brilliant  mark,  and  have  done  substantial  service 
for  the  welfare  of  the  community.  A  man  who  com 
poses  strife,  who  harmonizes  discords,  who  heals 
wounded  feelings,  who  sees  and  shows  the  right,  and 
aids  in  establishing  justice,  is  no  less  a  benefactor  to  his 
race,  than  one  who  discovers  great  forces,  invents  useful 
machines,  conducts  large  business  affairs,  or  does  deeds 
of  chanty.  As  Mr.  Allen  had  been  the  exemplary  busi 
ness-man  and  citizen,  so  he  would  have  been  the  exem 
plary  lawyer,  adding  renown  to  a  profession  that  has 
hitherto  been  worthily  honored.  No  doubt  his  legal 
training  and  knowledge  of  the  law  had  aided  him  greatly 


RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.       8 1 

in  doing  much  of  the  good  work  that  had  distinguished 
his  life.  His  varied  services  had  been  fittingly  set  forth, 
and  had  been  such  as  we  would  long  remember;  but 
the  glory  of  his  life  had  been  that  he  was  always  willing 
and  anxious  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  benefit  of 
others. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Judge  Stiness's  remarks,  the 
Memorial  Minute  presented  by  Professor  Gammell  was 
unanimously  adopted  by  a  standing  vote,  and  the  meet 
ing  was  adjourned. 


The  following  letters,  from  two  honored  officers  of  the  His 
torical  Society,  were  received  too  late  to  be  read  till  a  subse 
quent  meeting. 

NEWPORT,  March  20,  1882. 

DEAR  MR.  PERRY, —  The  intelligence  of  the  death 
of  Mr.  Allen,  the  esteemed  President  of  our  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society,  was  received  by  me  with  sin 
cere  sadness ;  for  we  had  been  acquainted  nearly  half  a 
century.  As  our  residences  were  remote  from  each 
other,  our  intercourse  was  necessarily  interrupted. 
Still  it  was  frequent  enough,  especially  during  the  years 
we  were  associated  as  officers  of  the  Historical  Society, 
to  keep  our  mutual  regard  fresh  and  enduring. 

Mr.  Allen  was  the  senior  member  of  the  Rhode 
Island  bar  at  the  time  of  his  death ;  which  sad  event 
leaves  me  the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  the  oldest 
member  thereof,  —  certainly  the  oldest  lawyer  still  in 
practice. 

6 


82  MEMOIR    OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

I  shall  cordially  concur  in  any  tribute  of  respect  for 
his  life  and  character  which  the  Society  may  decide  to 

adopt. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

FRANCIS    BRINLEY. 

NEWPORT,  R.  I.,  March  20,  1882. 
To  Hon.  AMOS  PERRY,  Secretary,  &c. 

DEAR  MR.  PERRY, —  It  is  with  the  deepest  pain  and 
regret  that  I  have  heard  of  the  death  of  my  old  and 
esteemed  friend,  Mr.  Allen,  to  whom  I  was  sincerely  at 
tached  for  his  many  amiable  and  noble  qualities.  His 
death  is  to  me  a  painful  surprise ;  for,  although  he  was 
an  old  man,  he  always  seemed  to  me  so  vigorous,  and 
his  mind,  on  every  subject  that  he  touched  upon,  so 
clear  and  strong,  that  one  forgot  his  advanced  age  when 
conversing  with  him.  I  can  hardly  realize  that  he  has 
passed  away,  —  that  his  place  at  the  gatherings  of  the 
Historical  Society  has  become  vacant. 

It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  attend  the  commemora 
tive  meeting  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  this  good 
man;  but  I  cannot  let  the  opportunity  pass  without 
saying  to  you,  who  knew  him  so  much  better  than  I, 
how  deeply  I  deplore  his  loss. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

GEO.    C.    MASON. 


ACTION    OF    OTHER    SOCIETIES, 

ETC. 


A 


ACTION    OF    THE    PROVIDENCE    FRANKLIN 
SOCIETY. 

T  a  meeting  of  this  Society,  held  March  28,  1882,  the  Presi 
dent,  LEVI  W.  RUSSELL,  Esq.,  spoke  thus  :  — 


FELLOW-MEMBERS,  —  Two  weeks  ago  this  evening 
it  was  the  privilege  of  this  Society  to  listen  to  the  words 
of  one  whose  voice  we  shall  hear  no  more  on  earth. 
It  was  the  speech  of  one  whom  we  more  than  honored, 
—  whom  we  loved.  Titles  he  had,  but  he  was  above  and 
beyond  them.  He  adorned  them,  rather  than  they 
him ;  and  that  not  so  much  from  his  great  learning 
as  from  the  use  he  made  of  his  large  acquirements. 

Zachariah  Allen  was  one  of  the  finest  models  of  the 
true  type  of  New  England  manhood  which  the  land 
of  Roger  Williams  has  produced.  Had  he  been  ambi 
tious  to  place  himself  prominently  before  the  world, 
he  might  have  won  high  distinction  in  various  lines 
of  thought  and  action.  As  he  lived,  he  drew  from  all 
sources  around  him,  from  the  sun  and  other  bodies  in 
space,  no  less  than  from  what  he  met  about  his  home 


84  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

or  on  his  travels,  lessons  of  divine  wisdom,  prudence, 
and  beneficence,  which  he  only  took  for  himself  to-day, 
to  give  to  others  to-morrow. 

He  was  a  full-rounded  man ;  and  while  we  admired 
him  for  his  copious  knowledge  (and  that  upon  almost 
any  topic  coming  up  for  discussion  or  conversation),  and 
while  we  listened  with  rapt  attention  to  his  clear  and 
fluent  statements  and  explanations  upon  the  subjects 
of  his  remarks,  we  were  always  cheered  and  made  bet 
ter  by  what  he  said.  His  enthusiasm  in  matters  which 
particularly  interested  us,  as  gleaners  in  the  fields  of 
science  and  natural  history,  was  something  inspiring. 
He  spoke  to  us  as  though  conscious  of  his  power,  yet 
no  one  could  care  less  than  he  to  put  himself  in  front. 
He  was  not  a  lecturer,  but  he  possessed  the  rare  faculty 
of  speaking  to  an  audience  as  though  talking  to  each 
individually.  How  often  have  we  uttered  or  heard 
this  remark:  ''Mr.  Allen  is  always  interesting;"  or 
this :  "  Mr.  Allen  has  always  something  good  to  say 
to  us." 

We  shall  miss  him  in  this  Society.  We  shall  miss 
his  cordial  greetings,  his  genial  face,  his  noble  exam 
ple,  and  his  instructive  words.  I  can  hardly  think  of 
him  as  an  old  man.  Until  the  hour  of  his  passing  on, 
he  carried  the  best  of  youth  about  with  him;  so  we 
did  not  think  of  his  leaving  us,  even  at  half  a  genera 
tion  beyond  the  appointed  bound  of  human  life. 

Some  of  us,  who  thought  that  the  walks  of  our  Soci 
ety  excursions  were  at  times  long  and  tiresome,  said 
but  little  about  it,  as  we  saw  Mr.  Allen,  at  more  than 
fourscore  years,  tripping  along  like  a  boy  in  his  teens, 


PROVIDENCE    FRANKLIN    SOCIHTV.  85 

and  at  the  same  time  talking  like  a  philosopher,  as  he 
was,  of  what  he  saw  around  him. 

He  made  the  best  of  himself  as  long  as  he  lived, 
and  no  doubt  he  lived  the  longer  for  his  doing  so. 
What  a  noble  example  to  those  who,  in  advanced 
years,  feel  that  there  is  nothing  more  for  them  to  do  ! 
To  outlive  his  usefulness  was  no  part  of  his  allotted 
stay  on  earth.  For  years  he  has  known  that  he  might 
be  "  but  for  a  day;  "  but  that  day  should  see  some 
thing  accomplished,  something  done. 

When  the  life  of  Zachariah  Allen  shall  be  adequately 
written,  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  helpful  biographical 
books  which  this  State  has  ever  given  to  the  public. 
It  will  teach  young  men  how  to  begin  life,  middle-aged 
men  the  way  to  improve  it,  and  old  men  how  to  make 
it  useful  and  happy. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  speak  of  the  various  ways  in 
which  Mr.  Allen  benefited  the  public  during  his  long 
life.  It  is  enough  to  call  to  mind  what  his  compeers 
say  of  him,  —  that  he  was  the  pioneer  in  most  of  the 
great  improvements  of  his  home  city  for  a  half-century 
back.  I  will  leave  it  to  others,  who  knew  him  longer 
than  I  have  done,  to  review  his  work  in  originating, 
carrying  on,  and  inspiring  others  to  give  their  thought 
and  time  to  the  purposes  of  the  Franklin  Society. 

From  my  first  acquaintance  with  him,  ten  or  eleven 
years  ago,  he  has  impressed  me  as  a  model  of  right 
living;  and  now  that  he  has  passed  on,  as  we  trust,  to 
wider  fields  of  usefulness,  we  are  still  permitted  to  profit 
by  his  example,  as  we  must  by  the  beneficent  results 
of  his  good  works.  We  are  fortunate  in  possessing 


86  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

a  fine  cast  of  the  features  of  Mr.  Allen,  for  our  Society 
rooms.  As  we  look  upon  the  benignant  face,  may  it 
ever  incite  us  to  emulate  his  good  works. 

At  the  close  of  his  remarks  Dr.  W.  O.  BROWN  moved  that  a 
committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  report  to  the  Society  appro 
priate  resolutions  and  memorials  concerning  our  loved  brother 
and  friend,  Zachariah  Allen,  suggesting  that  Rev.  E.  M.  Stone 
be  the  chairman  of  that  committee.  Rev.  Mr.  Stone,  John  A. 
Rowland,  and  Mr.  Southwick  were  appointed  on  that  com 
mittee.  Dr.  Brown,  in  connection  with  his  motion,  spoke 
briefly  of  the  high  qualities  of  the  deceased,  and  of  his  large 
and  abiding  interest  in  the  Society,  and  of  the  great  loss  which 
we  had  sustained.  The  committee,  after  retiring  for  a  short 
time,  reported  through  its  chairman  as  follows  :  — 

Resolved,  That  in  the  sudden  death  of  the  Hon. 
Zachariah  Allen  we  are  impressively  reminded  of  the 
uncertainty  of  life,  and  are  called  upon  to  mourn  the 
departure  of  our  oldest  surviving  associate,  whose 
cheerful  face  and  words  of  wisdom  were  as  sunshine  and 
instruction  in  the  councils  of  this  Society. 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  here  desires  to  give  ex 
pression  to  its  appreciation  of  the  varied  and  profound 
learning  of  its  late  associate-member,  and  of  the  gener 
ous  use  he  made  of  his  vast  accumulation  of  knowledge, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  places  itself  in  harmony 
with  the  entire  community  in  the  expression  of  respect 
for  the  active  life  and  useful  services  of  one  who  for 
threescore  years  has  been  identified  with  institutions 
and  measures  that  have  contributed  largely  to  the 
prosperity  of  his  native  town  and  of  the  State. 


PROVIDENCE    FRANKLIN    SOCIETY.  87 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  the  family  of  our  de 
parted  associate  our  sincere  sympathy  in  this  hour  of 
their  deep  sorrow. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  this  Society  is  hereby 
directed  to  transmit  to  the  family  of  the  deceased  a 
copy  of  these  resolutions,  and  also  to  enter  the  same 
upon  the  Society's  records. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  further  token  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  Mr.  Allen,  this  Society  do  now  adjourn. 

Mr.  STONE,  after  presenting  the  resolutions,  spoke  in 
a  very  feeling  and  appreciative  manner  of  Mr.  Allen. 
He  alluded  to  his  delivering  a  lecture  before  the  Society 
as  early  as  1830,  upon  his  first  return  from  Europe;  to 
his  frequent  contributions  in  the  way  of  papers,  his 
readiness  at  all  times  to  enlighten  his  audiences  upon 
the  most  varied  topics,  and  often  with  no  opportunity 
for  special  preparation.  He  spoke  of  his  intimate  rela 
tion  with  him  for  many  years,  and  of  the  great  assist 
ance  he  had  rendered  him  in  his  historical  researches. 
He  regarded  him  as  the  "  residuary  legatee "  of  the 
unwritten  history  of  the  State  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  back.  He  said  that  his  inmost  and  per 
sonal  feelings  towards  the  deceased  were  of  too  intimate 
a  nature  to  be  expressed  except  to  the  family. 

SAMUEL  AUSTIN  addressed  the  Society  in  fitting 
words.  He  said  :  "  Brothers  of  the  Franklin  Society,  we 
meet  as  a  bereaved  family.  If  at  our  last  pleasant  meet 
ing,  only  a  fortnight  since,  we  had  been  asked,  '  Know 
ye  that  the  Lord  will  take  away  your  master  from  your 


88  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

head  to-day?'  how  prompt  had  been  the  answer,  and 
how  natural,  '  Hold  ye  your  peace  !  '  So  accustomed 
have  we  been  to  his  regular  attendance  here,  to  his 
genial  participation  in  all  our  pursuits,  so  long  have  we 
sat  under  his  teachings,  always  so  interested  in  the 
man,  the  subject,  the  manner,  —  whatever  the  occasion, 
—  that  we  find  ourselves  quite  unprepared  to  admit  the 
sober  reality. 

"  The  departure  of  the  venerable  Zachariah  Allen, 
from  this  earthly  scene  of  labors  so  abundant  and  so 
beneficent,  is  an  event  of  marked  interest.  The  com 
munity  deeply  feels  it.  The  several  corporations  with 
which  he  was  connected  —  religious,  civil,  benevolent, 
scientific  —  deem  it  their  privilege,  each  in  its  turn, 
to  testify  their  appreciation  of  such  a  life.  Among 
these  associations  none  more  deeply  feels  its  loss 
than  the  Providence  Franklin  Society.  We  deem  it 
a  privilege,  then,  to  join  in  this  spontaneous  public 
expression." 

Mr.  Austin  then  touched  points  of  general  interest : 
Mr.  Allen's  early  and  abiding  love  for  science  ;  his 
regard  for  nature's  God,  which  was  profound  and  rev 
erent  ;  his  spirit  of  helpfulness  to  others ;  his  ardent 
pursuit  of  knowledge  everywhere ;  his  serene  confi 
dence  in  the  principles  concerning  God  and  nature's 
laws,  which  had  satisfied  Newton  and  Kepler,  Bacon 
and  Agassiz ;  his  instructions  given  to  us  in  lectures, 
papers,  and  conversations  ;  the  versatility  of  his  powers  ; 
the  lessons  to  teachers,  parents,  and  others,  to  multiply 
such  examples  as  he  showed ;  his  special  educational 
work  in  establishing  evening  schools  and  libraries,  as 


PROVIDENCE   FRANKLIN   SOCIETY.  89 

well  as  his  long  connection  with  the  University.  These, 
and  other  points  in  his  life's  work,  were  successively 
elaborated  by  Mr.  Austin.  He  spoke  particularly  of 
Mr.  Allen's  efforts  to  establish  a  Public  Library  in 
Providence,  which  he  planned  to  have  combined  with 
other  educational  factors,  as  an  art-gallery  and  mu 
seum,  in  one  grand  building,  so  that  the  whole  would 
be  complete. 

In  closing,  Mr.  Austin  said :  "  How  vividly  we  recall 
our  last  interview  on  this  spot  with  our  venerated 
friend  !  Gratefully  accepting  this  faithful  likeness  that 
adorns  our  walls  as  a  friendly  monitor,  let  us  strive,  at 
whatever  distance,  to  emulate  the  virtues  of  our  friend 
and  benefactor." 

Mr.  D.  VV.  HOYT  spoke  briefly,  remarking  that  he 
felt  it  an  honor  to  belong  to  a  Society  of  which  Mr. 
Allen  was  so  prominent  a  member.  It  was  a  delight 
to  know  him,  a  pleasure  to  remember  him.  He  had 
been  impressed  with  his  extreme  courtesy,  great  kind 
ness,  by  his  manner  and  his  words.  He  spoke  of  his 
investigations  in  science,  and  surmised  that  there  were 
foreshadowed  in  his  last  work,  on  Solar  Light  and  Heat, 
theories  and  thoughts  which,  in  years  to  come,  may 
be  accepted  as  great  truths.  He  rejoiced  that  he  had 
published  that  work.  He  rejoiced  to  have  known  him. 

Mr.  CHARLES  M.  SALISBURY  followed  with  brief 
remarks,  speaking  of  his  last  walk  home  with  him 
from  the  meeting,  two  weeks  ago.  Dr.  BROWN  added 
appreciative  words,  and  Mr.  CLARK  spoke  of  him  as 


90  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

being  a  man,  a  gentleman  of  the  Old  School,  and 
as  very  cordial  and  kind  to  his  employes  when  in 
active  business. 

The  resolutions  were  in  solemn  silence  passed  by  a  standing 
vote. 


PROVIDENCE    ASSOCIATION    OF    MECHANICS 
AND    MANUFACTURERS. 

AT  the  annual  meeting,  held  April  14,  1882,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Zachariah  Allen,  its 
late  President,  this  Association  mourns  the  loss  of  one 
of  its  oldest,  most  esteemed,  and  honored  members ;  of 
one  whose  personal  labors  of  investigation  and  research 
in  the  departments  of  mechanics  and  physical  science, 
and  whose  earnest  endeavors,  through  a  long  and  busy 
life,  for  the  promotion  of  manufactures  and  the  me 
chanic  arts,  and  the  diffusion  of  practical  information 
and  scientific  knowledge,  as  well  as  his  ready  and  untir 
ing  efforts  in  other  ways  for  the  advancement  of  human 
welfare,  have  received  our  sincere  appreciation,  and 
merit  our  lasting  gratitude. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Mr. 
Allen,  derived  mainly  from  the  article  published  in  the 
Providence  Journal,  immediately  after   his    death,   has 
been  entered  upon  the  records  of  the  Society. 
Attest : 

S.   H.   T1NGLEY,   Secretary. 


PROVIDENCE   PUBLIC    LIBRARY.  91 


PROVIDENCE   PUBLIC   LIBRARY. 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Providence 
Public  Library,  held  June  13,  1882,  the  following  minute  was 
adopted  :  — 

MINUTE. 

SINCE  the  last  meeting  of  this  Board  there  have  died, 
at  their  respective  residences  in  this  city,  two  of  its 
members:  the  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  on  the  I7th  day  of 
March ;  and  the  Hon.  William  S.  Slater,  the  President 
of  the  Board,  on  the  28th  day  of  May. 

This  Board,  therefore,  orders  to  be  incorporated 
with  its  proceedings  a  record  of  its  high  estimate  of  the 
character,  ability,  and  services  to  this  library  of  its  late 
associates,  than  whom  it  had  no  warmer  friends.  Mr. 
Allen  was  earnest  in  his  watchfulness  over  its  welfare, 
and  constant  in  his  endeavors  to  advance  its  interests ; 
and  Mr.  Slater,  though  prevented,  by  the  large  and 
varied  business  interests  under  his  supervision,  from  giv 
ing  to  it  much  of  his  personal  attention,  is  remembered 
among  the  largest  donors  to  its  funds. 

F.    E.   RICHMOND,   Secretary. 


THE  following  resolutions,  beautifully  engrossed  and  framed, 
were  presented  by  the  Engineers'  Association  : 

At  a  regular  stated  meeting  of  the  Engineers'  Asso 
ciation  of  Rhode  Island,  held  at  their  hall  in  Providence, 
R.  I.,  on  the  evening  of  the  25th  of  March,  1882,  the 


92  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

death  of  our  beloved  brother,  Zachariah  Allen,  was  an 
nounced,  and  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions 
were  unanimously  adopted. 

Whereas,  God,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  has  seen  fit  to 
remove  from  among  us  Zachariah  Allen,  a  valued  and 
honored  member  of  this  Association,  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  while  bowing  to  the  will  of  the  Crea 
tor,  we  deeply  deplore  the  loss  which  has  befallen  us, 
and  bear  willing  testimony  to  his  worth  as  a  gentleman, 
scholar,  friend  ;  and  we  tender  to  his  family  our  heartfelt 
sympathy  in  this  their  deep  affliction. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  en 
grossed  and  presented  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

HENRY  D.  COZENS,") 
BARTLETT  ALLEN,    >•  Committee. 
WM.  R.  SMITH,       J 

JOHN    O.   NEILL,   President. 

HENRY   D.    COZENS,    Secretary. 


PROVIDENCE  VETERAN    FIREMEN'S    ASSOCIATION. 

TlIE  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Providence  Veteran 
Firemen's  Association  was  held  Tuesday  evening  in  the 
rooms  of  the  Franklin  Society,  Vice-President  Geo.  W. 
Cady  in  the  chair.  The  attendance  was  very  good,  but 
beyond  the  transaction  of  a  little  routine  business, 
scarcely  anything  was  done,  except  with  reference  to 
the  late  First  President,  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  who  de 
ceased  March  17.  Both  in  remarks  by  members  and  in 


OXFORD   HUGUENOT   SOCIETY. 


93 


a  paper  prepared  for  the  records,  it  was  dwelt  upon  that, 
in  spite  of  his  great  age,  he  was  young  in  spirit  and  ac 
tive  in  body,  disclosing,  in  all  his  intercourse  with  mem 
bers,  hearty  love  for  things  of  to-day  as  well  as  for  old 
things,  a  remarkable  amount  of  practical  knowledge, 
and  a  very  retentive  memory.  Beyond  any  member,  he 
was  the  typical  veteran.  As  he  was  by  many  years  the 
oldest  member,  so  he  was,  doubtless,  the  only  man  in 
Providence  who,  for  some  time  previous  to  his  decease, 
could  say  that  he  held  an  important  place  in  the  suc 
tion-engine  department  of  1822.  —  c.  E.  c.,  Providence 
Journal,  April  27,  1882. 


ACTION   OF   THE  OXFORD    HUGUENOT    MEMORIAL 
SOCIETY, 

TAKEN    AT   ITS    ANNUAL    MEETING,    HELD    AT    OXFORD,    MASS., 
OCTOBER   4,    1882. 

Whereas,  The  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  of  Providence, 
R.  I.,  the  first  President  of  the  Huguenot  Memorial 
Society  of  Oxford,  died  on  the  i/th  of  March,  1882, 
therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  Society  do  here 
by  express  their  sincere  sorrow  at  the  death  of  their 
greatly  respected  President,  who  not  only  honored 
them  and  the  Society  by  his  spotless  character,  and 
many,  varied,  and  eminent  attainments,  but  endeared 
himself  to  them  by  his  gentle  spirit,  and  deep  and 
unwavering  interest  in  the  concerns  of  this  Society. 


94  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

Resolved,  That  the  above  be  entered  upon  the  records 
of  the  Society,  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  the  family 

of  Mr.  Allen. 

G.  W.    SIGOURNEY,  Clerk. 


MASSACHUSETTS    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

AT  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So 
ciety,  held  April  13,  1882,  in  the  absence  of  the  President,  the 
Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  the  first  Vice-President,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
GEORGE  E.  ELLIS,  presided,  and  in  the  course  of  the  evening 
spoke  as  follows  :  — 

Since  our  last  meeting  we  have  lost  from  the  roll 
of  our  Corresponding  Members  a  venerable  and  much 
respected  man,  the  Hon.  Zachariah  Allen,  LL.D.,  of 
Providence.  He  died  in  his  eighty-seventh  year,  on  the 
1 7th  of  last  month,  in  the  city  of  his  birth  and  resi 
dence.  He  was  born  September  15,  1795.  He  was 
President  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society ;  and 
his  long  and  most  useful  life,  his  family  connections, 
the  strong  regard  cherished  for  his  upright  and  attrac 
tive  character,  and  his  many  distinguished  public  ser 
vices,  have  made  him  for  several  years  to  be  looked 
upon  as  the  most  prominent  historical  and  representa 
tive  person  in  his  State.  On  his  mother's  side  he  was 
a  descendant  of  Gabriel  Bernon,  one  of  the  most  re 
spected  and  distinguished  of  the  Huguenots  driven 
from  France  by  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
who  came  to  Boston  in  1688,  and  made  a  settlement  in 
this  State  at  Oxford. 


MASSACHUSETTS   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.       95 

Mr.  Allen  graduated  in  1813  from  Brown  Univer 
sity,  of  which  institution  he  was  for  many  years  one  of 
the  trustees.  He  studied  both  law  and  medicine.  His 
genius  and  versatility  of  talents,  his  mechanical  skill, 
and  his  comprehensive  scientific  tastes  and  attainments 
were  at  first  given  to  advance  the  manufacturing  in 
dustry  and  development  of  his  prosperous  State.  Many 
ingenious,  economical,  and  useful  inventions  and  appli 
ances  came  from  his  active  brain,  showing  his  scientific 
skill  in  the  originating,  increasing,  and  applying  motive- 
power  in  steam  and  other  machinery.  His  volumes 
on  abstract  and  applied  science  are  numerous  and  of 
great  practical  use.  He  ingeniously  calculated  the 
mechanical  force  of  the  fall  at  Niagara  as  equal  to 
more  than  four  and  a  half  millions  actual  horse-power. 

The  State,  and  especially  the  city  of  his  birth  and 
home,  are  indebted  to  him  for  many  of  its  most  prized 
institutions,  improvements,  and  public  works.  He  was 
a  generous  adviser  and  benefactor  of  all  educational, 
charitable,  and  religious  efforts  for  all  classes  of  the 
community.  More  than  all,  he  drew  to  himself  the 
profoundest  regard  and  respect,  and  the  warmest  at 
tachment  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  in  proportion  to 
their  intimacy,  —  for  the  modest  elevation,  dignity,  and 
purity  of  his  character,  for  his  simple  habits  and  man 
ner  of  life,  for  his  delicate,  Old  School  courtesy  and 
urbanity.  Some  of  us  have  been  privileged  to  see  and 
know  him  in  his  home,  which  he  made  so  genial  in  its 
hospitalities.  He  had  a  peaceful  and  sudden  release, 
in  hardly  impaired  vigor,  after  a  blameless,  useful,  and 
Christian  life. 


96  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

LETTER  FROM  EDWARD  ATKINSON,  ESQ. 

BOSTON,  March  21,  1882. 
WM.  D.  ELY,  Esq. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  I  greatly  regretted  that  the  absence  of 
Mr.  Whiting,  and  the  pressure  of  office  work,  made  it 
impossible  for  me  to  make  arrangements  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  our  good  friend,  Mr.  Zachariah  Allen. 

Few  men  whom  I  have  ever  counted  among  my 
friends  have  so  impressed  me  as  Mr.  Allen.  He  has 
left  his  mark  in  the  services  which  he  rendered ;  and  it 
will  always  be  a  pleasure  to  me  to  remember  him,  and 
to  have  counted  him  among  my  friends. 
Sincerely  yours, 

EDWARD   ATKINSON. 


LETTER   FROM    PROFESSOR   WILLIAM   B.  ROGERS. 

117  MARLBOROUGH  ST.,  BOSTON, 
March  20,  1882. 

MY  DEAR  MlSS  ALLEN,  —  We  have  just  seen,  in  the 
morning  paper,  a  notice  of  the  death  of  your  dear  fa 
ther,  our  kind  friend  of  so  many  years ;  and  I  cannot 
delay  sending  you  an  expression  of  our  sympathy  with 
you  in  this  great  bereavement. 

You  know  how  highly  we  have  prized  your  father's 
friendship,  and  how  much  we  have  enjoyed  his  bright 
intelligence  and  humane  liberality  of  thought,  wherever 
it  has  been  our  happy  fortune  to  meet  him ;  and  you 


LETTER   FROM   PROF.   W.    B.    ROGERS.        97 

can  well  imagine  our  sorrow  to  find  that  henceforth  we 
shall  see  his  kind  face  and  hear  his  friendly  voice  no 
more. 

Some  weeks  ago  my  wife,  in  talking  with  Mr.  R. 
of  him,  learned  of  his  long  walk  in  the  cold  evening 
air,  like  a  young  and  vigorous  man ;  and  we  know  that 
you  have  often  been  made  anxious  by  his  readiness, 
forgetful  of  his  years,  to  follow  the  youthful  spirit  of 
inquiry  and  of  active  well-doing  that  seemed  to  animate 
him  to  the  last. 

But  the  circumstances  of  his  death  —  sudden  and 
without  pain,  in  the  midst  of  this  useful  work,  after 
having  escaped  the  usual  infirmities  of  old  age — may 
well  be  a  source  of  consolation  and  comfort  to  all  who 
loved  him. 

This  life  of  noble  usefulness  could  not  have  had  a 
more  fitting  close.  Its  memory,  cherished  lovingly  by 
family  and  friends,  will  be  a  public  benefaction,  an 
example  of  rare  intellectual  gifts  devoted  to  the  highest 
practical  ends. 

With  our  love  and  sympathy  to  yourself  and  Mrs.  E., 
believe  me,  dear  friend, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

WILLIAM   B.    ROGERS. 


98  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

LINES    BY   THE    HON.    CHARLES   THURBER, 
OF    BROOKLYN,   N.Y. 

HON.   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN,    LL.D. 

BROWN'S  old  Trustee,  long  at  the  column's  head,  — 

So  long  we  were  not  thinking  he  would  die  ; 
But  yet,  last  week,  he  joined  the  honored  dead, 

Ere  scarce  the  summons  reached  him  from  on  high. 

i 

A  man  of  culture,  man  of  thought  and  brain, 
Who  deemed  to  live  meant  more  than  vegetate ; 

Not  to  be  called  great,  but  he  toiled  to  gain 
Those  acquisitions  that  do  make  men  great. 

A  modest  man,  who,  midst  the  great  or  small, 

Ne'er  walked  akimbo,  for  a  wider  sway. 
What  God  and  culture  made  him,  —  that  was  all 

For  which  he  wished  or  asked  the  right  of  way. 

He  loved  Rhode  Island,  loved  her  very  name, 
And  kept  her  history  under  lock  and  key, 

Up  to  the  hour  the  dreadful  summons  came 
To  leave  his  dear  head-centre  of  the  free. 

A  genial  man,  I  always  loved  to  see 

When  yearly  summoned  up  to  Manning  Hall ; 

His  smile  of  welcome  had  a  charm  for  me, 
A  welcome  now  't  is  pleasant  to  recall. 

Farewell,  old  man,  though  we  shall  meet  no  more 
On  Brown's  green  campus,  or  within  her  hall, 

Perhaps  we  may,  upon  the  shining  shore, 

Where  Truth  presents  exhaustless  feasts  for  all. 

Providence  Journal,  March  27,  1882. 


LETTER   FROM   REUBEN   A.    GUILD,    LL.D.     99 
LETTER    FROM    REUBEN    A.    GUILD,    LL.D., 

OF    BROWN    UNIVERSITY. 

Hon.  AMOS  PERRY, 

DEAR  SIR, —  I  have  been  informed  that  you  are  col 
lecting  material  for  a  memorial  of  the  late  Hon.  Zach- 
ariah  Allen,  LL.  D.  It  may  be  fitting  therefore  for  you 
to  record  the  following  pleasing  reminiscence.  On 
the  very  day  of  his  death,  March  17,  he  called  at  the 
College  Library  about  noon,  bringing  with  him  some 
newspaper  clippings  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Col 
lege.  He  spent  more  than  an  hour  looking  them  over 
with  me,  and  comparing  them  with  my  own  "  scrip-book." 
He  seemed  in  unusually  good  health  and  spirits,  and 
expressed  himself  as  specially  interested  in  the  preser 
vation  of  these  transient  memorials  of  the  past.  While 
we  were  thus  engaged,  Mr.  Edward  H.  Hazard,  a  promi 
nent  lawyer  in  town,  and  one  of  our  older  graduates, 
called.  An  animated  conversation  ensued,  Mr.  Allen 
exhibiting  all  the  intelligence  and  vivacity  of  youth. 
As  he  was  leaving  the  Library,  Mr.  Hazard,  pointing  to 
him,  significantly  remarked,  "The  old  man  young." 
You  can  imagine  the  shock  I  received  on  reading  in  the 
paper  the  next  morning  the  sad  announcement  of  his 
sudden  decease.  The  article  on  him  which  appeared 
in  the  columns  of  the  Journal  the  following  Monday,  I 
have  put  into  my  "  scrip-book,"  and  appended  thereto 
the  foregoing  statement. 

Yours  very  truly, 

REUBEN   A.    GUILD,   Librarian. 
BROWN  UNIVERSITY, 
Nov.  8,  1882. 


100          MEMOIR   OF  ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 


DR.    BEEKMAN'S   LETTER. 

5  EAST  34TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK, 

March  15,  1877. 
Hon.  ZACHARIAH  ALLEN, 

DEAR  SIR, —  Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Henry 
T.  Drowne  I  have  received  a  copy  of  your  patriotic 
defence  of  the  Rhode  Island  system  in  Indian  affairs, 
and  of  her  noble  behavior  concerning  civil  and  reli 
gious  liberty. 

Your  truthful  and  clear  exhibition  of  the  narrow 
cruelty  of  the  Pilgrims  in  Massachusetts  furnishes 
another  testimony  of  the  unpalatable  fact — to  Boston 
historians —  that  Christianity,  peace,  and  good-will  were 
not  practised  in  that  vainglorious  land. 

I  thank  you,  as  a  descendant  of  tolerant  Netherland 
families  of  New  York,  for  your  noble  address ;  for  in 
honoring  Rhode  Island  you  praise  the  spirit  of  religious 
freedom,  which  began  with  the  earliest  Dutch  settlers 
on  Manhattan,  and  which  has  made  this  city  in  so  many 
senses  metropolitan. 

May  I  beg  your  acceptance  of  a  copy  of  a  report 
containing  some  views  on  hospitals,  which  have  been 
called  revolutionary  ideas,  but  which  seem  worthy  of 
investigation. 

Very  truly  and  respectfully 

Your  friend, 

JAMES   W.    BEEKMAN. 


LETTER  FROM  DR.  SHEPARD.      ioi 

DR.  SHEPARD'S  LETTER. 

PROVIDENCE,  February  26,  1877. 
ZACHARIAH  ALLEN,  Esq., 

MY  DEAR  SIR, —  I  hasten  to  thank  you  for  your  lit 
tle  brocJmre  on  the  Rhode  Island  System  of  Civil  and 
Religious  Liberty,  which  I  have  just  finished  reading 
with  great  interest  and  a  feeling  of  warm  approval. 

The  habit  of  expressing  indiscriminate  admiration 
for  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  and  the  Puritans  of  Salem  has 
prevailed  so  long,  that  I  am  thankful  that  one  gentleman 
has  had  the  independence  and  knowledge  to  point  out 
their  weaknesses  and  vices.  It  is  due  to  the  truth,  to 
Roger  Williams,  and  to  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  that 
this  should  be  done,  and  done  effectually  as  you  have 
done  it.  And  I  think  the  fact  that  it  is  due  to  the  truth 
is  of  more  consequence  than  might  appear  to  a  casual 
observer.  It  was  always  a  puzzle  to  me,  as  a  believer  in 
the  eventual  triumph  of  right  over  wrong, —  although 
the  best  of  us  must  sometimes  cry,  "  How  long,  O  Lord, 
how  long !  "  when  we  see  the  temporary  success  of 
wrong, —  that  the  Puritans  who  once  possessed  the  com 
plete  control  of  the  Church  of  England,  should  have 
lost  this  control,  and  lost  it  to  the  most  sinful  members 
of  the  Church  at  the  time  of  Charles  II., —  or,  worse  still, 
to  the  most  worldly  and  simoniacal  under  the  Georges. 

But  your  little  book  shows  that  the  Puritans  had  lit 
tle  of  the  spirit  of  real  Christian  toleration,  or  rather 
much  less  of  it  than  the  ribald  rakes  who  supplanted 
them  in  England ;  for  the  latter,  with  all  their  licentious- 


102  MEMOIR   OF  ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

ness,  had  at  least  something  of  kindness  and  chanty  in 
their  nature  ;  whereas  our  ancestors  —  I  speak  as  a  de 
scendant  of  one  of  the  chief  Puritan  ministers  of  New 
England  — were  "  quaint  old  cruel  coxcombs,"  as  Byron 
calls  Isaac  Walton,  and  were  stuffed  up  with  spiritual 
pride.  It  is  well  that  this  should  be  known,  and  I  thank 
you  for  making  it  known. 
With  great  regard, 

Truly  yours, 

THOMAS   P.  SHEPARD. 


LETTER   FROM   EDWARD   ATKINSON,   ESQ. 

MUTUAL   FIRE   INSURANCE   OF  MILLS. 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  Nov.  14,  1882. 
AMOS  PERRY,  Esq., 

MY  DEAR  SIR, —  I  very  cheerfully  comply  with  your 
request  in  regard  to  the  history  of  Factory  Mutual 
Insurance. 

As  I  understand  the  case,  about  the  year  1834  Mr. 
Allen,  being  the  owner  of  the  Allendale  Mills,  and  being 
dissatisfied  both  with  the  means  of  protection  from  loss 
by  fire,  and  with  the  rate  charged  by  the  stock-insur 
ance  companies,  carefully  fitted  his  mill  with  an  unusual 
amount  of  apparatus  for  extinguishing  fire,  consisting  of 
pumps,  pipes,  and  hydrants ;  having  already  paid  such 
attention  to  the  right  construction  of  the  mill,  according 
to  the  standard  then  known, —  notably  in  laying  shingles 
and  floors  in  mortar  over  thick  plank, —  that  within  the 


LETTER   FROM   EDWARD   ATKINSON. 


I03 


last  two  years,  that  single  precaution  has  saved  the  mill 
from  a  very  heavy  loss  in  a  fire  which  did  but  little 
injury. 

H  He  then  applied  to  the  stock  companies  for  a  reduc 
tion  of  the  rate  of  premium,  which  was,  I  believe,  2^/J  per 
cent.  The  reply  was:  "  We  know  nothing  about  your 
apparatus,  or  means  of  protection ;  a  cotton-mill  is  a 
cotton-mill,  and  our  rate  is  2^  per  cent," — or  whatever 
the  rate  might  have  been. 

This  led  Mr.  Allen  to  study  the  subject  fully,  and  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  the  mutual  insurance  of  factories, 
which  differs  from  any  other  system  of  insurance  in  this 
respect:  that  the  principal  function  of  the  underwriter 
is  to  study  the  methods  of  preventing  loss  from  fires 
which  must  occur  in  the  nature  of  the  business;  and  to 
establish  conditions  of  admission  based  upon  the 
adequacy  of  the  apparatus,  and  the  safe  methods  of 
constructing  the  mills. 

The  Manufacturers'  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Com 
pany  of  Providence,  which  he  established  in  1835,  was 
the  first  of  these  companies,  followed  in  1848  by  the 
organization  of  the  Rhode  Island  Mutual  Fire  Insurance 
Company;  and  in  1850  by  the  Boston  Manufacturers' 
Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  under  the  lead  of  the 
late  James  Read,  upon  consultation  with  Mr.  Allen. 

Since  then,  other  companies  have  been  organized  in 
Massachusetts  and  in  Rhode  Island,  and  lately  one  in 
Philadelphia;  so  that  there  are  now  nineteen  Factory 
Mutual  Insurance  Companies,  following  substantially 
the  same  plan,  co-operating  with  each  other,  and  saving, 
to  the  textile  manufactories,  paper-mills,  machine-shops, 


104  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

metal-works,  cordage-factories,  and  other  risks  of  like 
kind,  not  less  than  $2,000,000  a  year  in  the  cost  of  their 
insurance.  The  aggregate  amount  of  risks  now  car 
ried  by  these  nineteen  companies  is  a  little  less  than 
$300,000,000,  and  will  be  equal  to  that  sum  by  the  first 
day  of  January  next. 

The  average  premium  charged,  which  merely  con 
sists  of  a  deposit  subject  to  expenses  and  losses  for  the 
year,  is  now  at  the  average  rate  of  nine-tenths  of  one 
per  cent ;  and  the  average  return  made  upon  that  to 
the  assured  is  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  whole  sum 
of  the  deposit. 

At  the  instance  of  these  companies,  new  kinds  of  pre 
ventive  apparatus  have  been  invented,  new  methods 
of  construction  have  been  adopted  ;  and  the  lesson  which 
they  have  taught  is  now  being  rapidly  extended  through 
out  the  country,  and  is  affecting  the  construction  of 
works  of  various  kinds,  and  inducing  the  adoption  of 
methods  of  preventing  loss ;  by  which  it  may  be  hoped 
that  the  enormous  fire-tax  now  imposed  upon  the 
country,  of  over  $100,000,000  a  year,  may  be  greatly 
reduced. 

It  has  rarely  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  single  man  to 
confer  so  great  a  benefit  in  so   thoroughly  simple  and 
scientific  a  manner  as  has  happened  in  this  case ;  and  to 
Mr.  Allen  is  due  the  greater  share  in  this  benefit. 
Yours  very  truly, 

EDWARD   ATKINSON. 


LETTER  OF  BENJAMIN  ABBOT.      105 


LETTER  OF  BENJAMIN  ABBOT. 

EXETER,  September  29,  1833. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, —  I  received  a  few  days  since  three 
volumes,  the  Practical  Tourist  and  the  Science  of  Me 
chanics,  with  the  respects  of  their  author.  It  gives  me 
no  small  pleasure,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  to 
be  affectionately  remembered  by  a  quondam  pupil  — 
and  one,  too,  whose  remembrance  calls  up  many  pleas 
ant  associations  and  recollections,  which  I  love  to 
indulge.  I  have  not  yet  had  time  to  examine  the  con 
tents  of  these  volumes,  but  from  the  subjects  treated,  and 
the  manner  proposed,  I  anticipate  both  pleasure  and  in 
struction.  Accept,  my  dear  sir,  my  thanks  for  your 
kind  remembrance,  and  the  assurance  that  I  am,  as 
ever, 

Affectionately  yours,' 

BENJ.    ABBOT. 
ZACHARIAH  ALLEN,  Esq. 


PROBABLY  the  most  useful  invention  of  the  late  Zach- 
ariah  Allen,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  who  died  Friday,  was 
the  automatic  cut-off  valve  for  steam-engines,  which  was 
patented  in  1833,  and  is  still  employed,  with  some  im 
provements.  In  1821  he  constructed  the  first  furnace 
for  the  heating  of  dwelling-houses.  A  system  of  mutual 
insurance  for  mill  property  was  his  invention,  and  he 
framed  laws  for  the  regulation  of  the  sale  of  explosive 
oils. —  Evening  Post,  New  York,  March  24,  1882. 


106          MEMOIR   OF  ZACHARIAH  ALLEN. 


447  NORTH  BROAD  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA, 

July  3oth,  1880. 
ZACHARIAH  ALLEN,  Esq., 

DEAR  SIR, —  Please  accept  a  copy  of  my  Engineer's 
Handy-book.  I  am  well  aware  that  such  a  book  is  of 
no  practical  value  to  a  man  of  your  experience  and 
mechanical  genius;  nevertheless  I  hope  you  will  find 
something  in  it  that  will  interest  you. 

You  will  find  your  name  on  page  134. 

Hoping  that  this  letter  will  find  you  in  the  enjoyment 
of  good  health,  as  it  leaves  me  at  present,  I  remain, 

Yours  respectfully, 

STEPHEN  ROPER. 

The  passage  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  letter  is  as  follows  :  — 

ZACHARIAH  ALLEN,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  was  un 
doubtedly  the  inventor  of,  and  the  first  practically  to 
apply,  the  automatic  cut-off,  which  is  unquestionably  one 
of  the  greatest  improvements  ever  made  in  the  steam- 
engine. —  ROPER'S  Engineer  s  Handy-book.  E.  Claxton 
&  Co.,  Philadelphia,  1881.  I2mo.  pp.  678. 


LIST   OF   MR.   ALLEN'S    PUBLICATIONS. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  MECHANICS,  AS  APPLIED  TO  THE  USEFUL  ARTS  IN 

EUROPE  AND  IN  THE    UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. Adapted 

as  a  Manual  for  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers,  with  Rules 
and  Calculations  of  general  practical  utility ;  with  numerous 
engravings.  Providence.  Published  by  Hutchins  &  Corey ; 
Miller  &  Hammond  printers.  1829.  8vo.  pp.  364. 

EUROPEAN  TRAVELS. — Sketches  of  Improvements  of  the  Useful 
Arts,  of  Society,  Scenery,  &c.,  in  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Holland.  2  vols.  Providence,  1832.  i2mo.  pp.  363, 

428. 

PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  MECHANICS  OF  NATURE,  AND  OF  THE  SOURCE 
AND  MODES  OF  TRANSMISSION  OF  NATURAL  MOTIVE-POWER. — 
Illustrated  by  numerous  engravings.  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
New  York,  1851.  8vo.  pp.  797. 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  TRANSMISSION  OF 
POWER  FROM  MOTORS  TO  MACHINES.  Boston,  1871.  8vo. 
pp.  52. 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH  :  The  Rhode  Island  System  of  Treatment 
of  the  Indians,  and  of  establishing  Civil  and  Religious  Lib 
erty.  Bi-centennial  Address  on  the  Burning  of  Providence, 
1676 — 1876.  Providence,  1876.  8vo.  pp.  34. 

SOLAR  LIGHT  AND  HEAT,  THE  SOURCE  AND  SUPPLY  :  Gravitation, 
with  explanations  of  Planetary  and  Molecular  Forces.  Illus 
trated  with  numerous  engravings.  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New 
York,  1879.  8vo.  pp.  241. 


108  MEMOIR   OF   ZACHARIAH   ALLEN. 

Numerous  addresses  and  remarks,  that  were  made  on 
various  occasions  and  subjects,  and  printed  in  pamphlet 
form. 

Numerous  newspaper  and  magazine  articles,  some 
of  which  were  exhaustive  discussions  of  important  local 
questions. 

He  has  left  in  manuscript  an  extended  account  of 
the  Dorr  War,  with  an  explanation  of  his  views  on  ques 
tions  involved  in  that  contest;  also,  numerous  unfinished 
sketches  and  essays. 


University  Press:  John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


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on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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